Is RetroPie Open-Source?

Emulatre71

I was wondering since I have not seen it mentioned on the site. I would like to know if RetroPie is Open-Source.

simpleethat

The legal section can be found through the home page or you can go to it directly here

Emulatre71

@simpleethat Thank you, and nice on the RetroPie team for allowing this to be part of the open-source license

Lolonois

Some important additions for others stumblng at this topic:

There is no such construct as the open-source license. Open-source is an umbrella term for different licenses which at least grant you to inspect the source code.

Depending on which license is choosen by the copyright owner (an individual or a legal entity (organisation, corporation)) you may have more freedoms than that.

Here is a website which does highlights the rules of the different licenses: https://tldrlegal.com/

It is also important to differentiate what is ment with RetroPie by the original poster:

The RetroPie-setup scripts, i.e everything found at https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup is released under GPL.
The RetroPie image is based on Raspi OS: The majority of packages are GPL but the RetroPie image is also configured to use packages from non-free, which means they have a different license than GPL.
The fork of EmulationStation https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation, the second major part of the RetroPie project, which has a "do-whatever-you-want" style license (also known as MIT license). This fork is maintained by the RetroPie project, as the original author and copyright owner has abandoned his project.
Plus: The theme designers do hold a copyright on their works and should also attach a license to their artwork (e.g. by a creative-commons license).

TL;DR: The RetroPie-Setup is GPL, a RetroPie image in contrast contains a plethora of licenses, with the vast majority having a open source license.

What does that all mean in a nutshell? (disclaimer: IANAL)

As a hobbyist: You can use, modify, share, aso. as the different licenses of RetroPie-setup, EmulationStation, emulators, RaspiOS packages, theme artwork permit. You can act with peace of conscience as long as you don't use your RetroPie build in a commercial context or charge anyone for work you did on GPL code. But: You are liable for any copyright violations of the ROMs you use / put on your build.
As a seller (e.g. a hardware kit including a RetroPie image including emulators and ROMs): You are violating (non exhaustive list):
1. The GPL of RetroPie-Setup if you customize the scripts and don't make them publicly available free of charge.
2. The GPL if you charge money for RetroPie-Setup and/or Raspi OS.
3. Various open-source licenses of the emulators which prohibit commercial use.
4. Theme artwork licenses if they contain the clause "non-commercial".
5. The copyright of any ROM included in your bundle, unless you have a written consent of the copyright holder that they are free-for-commercial use.
In turn you may receive cease and desist requests (with a charge) of all the copyright owners listed above.

You may, however, modify EmulationStation and don't have to release the sources and may also charge for this work.
As a buyer of the beforementioned seller:
1. You are fueling a business which disrespects copyrights and licenses and is just harvesting the RetroPie community efforts without contributing to them. Think twice if you really want to do this.
2. As you bought the ROMs included in the kit you are liable for the copyright infringments they do pose.
3. Last but not least: Any support for the pre-bundled RetroPie image is void here in this forum (not only because of section 1) but also since it can not be reconstructed which modifications the seller did to the RetroPie image.
Better build your own arcade from scratch or buy a kit which does not include a RetroPie image.

HTH

barleyguy

@lolonois The GPL does NOT prohibit selling the software for money. Quite the opposite. The guarantee of the right to sell software is part of the definition of free software.

https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#DoesTheGPLAllowMoney

EDIT: Specific parts where your post is incorrect regarding the GPL

"or charge anyone for work you did on GPL code"
This is not correct. Most employees of Linux companies get paid to work on GPL code. The GPL does not prohibit getting paid to work on code.

"1. The GPL of RetroPie-Setup if you customize the scripts and don't make them publicly available free of charge."
This is not correct either. The GPL says that if you distribute binaries to someone, you must also give that specific person access to the source code, who in turn has the right to redistribute the binaries or source to other parties (for free or not) . Modifying GPL code does not require you to do anything free of charge, nor does it require a public distribution of anything.

"2. The GPL if you charge money for RetroPie-Setup and/or Raspi OS."
This is completely wrong. This whole statement should be deleted. The GPL is not a non-commercial license. It not only allows this, it guarantees the right to do it.

Lolonois

@barleyguy things can get difficult once the only way to interact is a keyboard. I was primary focusing on those "retropie kit" distributors using RetroPie and other GPL software needed for that without giving back a cut to those who provided/maintain the software in the first place.

However, selling GPL'ed software is okay. Selling without giving sth back to the maintainers of a GPL project or the FSF in general is immoral. Selling by a seller without granting the same GPL rights/freedoms to the buyer is against the GPL. And this was my point: The majority of "kit" sellers don't give anything back to the maintainers and most likely you will have a hard time getting the sources (and build-toolchain) from them.

In other contexts I had more than once the experience that a vendor sells a product bundled with customized GPL code but was reluctant to provide the sources. In the mildest reaction I just returned the product.

barbudreadmon

@barleyguy You are right about GPL, but you are still violating a bunch of licenses (FinalBurn, MAME, snes9x, ...) if you sell RetroPie.

barleyguy

@barbudreadmon My point was about GPL and about Retropie setup and Raspi OS. IMO it's good for people to actually understand what the GPL says and doesn't say, especially if they are involved with a project that is licensed under it. I agree that the non commercial licenses of Mame versions 2010 and less and many other included emulators would be violated by selling a retropie that includes those emulators.

This is of course assuming that the person doing it resides in a country that observes western copyright law.... US/European copyright law does not apply in China for example. There's probably a treaty that says it does, but it doesn't.