Is it a violation of the open-source license to publish a paid app on the App Store based on a fork of this project?

[170qiling]

Hello developers,

I recently discovered a fork of this project for iOS called “Moonlight.” The original project is under an open-source license, and this fork claims to be under the same GPLv3 license.

However, this project was recently published on the App Store and is being sold for profit. I would like to ask the developers: does this action violate the open-source license?

(Apologies for any awkward phrasing, as this was translated by an AI.)
https://apps.apple.com/cn/app/voidlink/id6747717070
https://github.com/The-Fried-Fish/VoidLink-previously-moonlight-zwm?tab=readme-ov-file

[Moosdijk]

Given that they've still got the source-code open, they're not doing anything wrong.
It's the GPL-3.0 license that permits this.

[DanTheMan827]

On that same note, someone could technically also take their app code verbatim and publish it under a different name.

Not that it's a nice thing to do... Mind you, it looks like all they did was re-skin the app and publish it as a paid one

[Moosdijk]

Dig a little deeper, because they fixed/changed more than just the skin.

Also, have you read the GPL-3.0 license? Here's the section that refers to your claim. In short:
You can rename the project (as you said, publish it under another name)
You can get credit for distribution (like voidLink does)
You cannot remove any previous copyright notices (such as those set in place by the moonlight team, also voidLink does not do this)

It does not matter if you think it's a nice thing to do or not: the developers of moonlight chose the GPL-3.0 license themselves.
If you've got a problem with someone taking the code and publishing it under a new name (while also adhering to the GPL-3.0 license of course), take it up with the moonlight team instead of passing judgement on those that act within the limit of the license.

[TrueZhuangJia]

On that same note, someone could technically also take their app code verbatim and publish it under a different name.

Not that it's a nice thing to do... Mind you, it looks like all they did was re-skin the app and publish it as a paid one

"it looks like all they did was re-skin the app"
Nah... we've done a lot of stuff

About VoidLink:
https://voidlink.yuque.com/org-wiki-voidlink-znirha/fa3tgr/dhmg3h27ls8mwt4a

VoidLink contributor list (you can have a glimpse of what voidlink has done here):
https://voidlink.yuque.com/org-wiki-voidlink-znirha/fa3tgr/cuqwnht9w7t1o95v

[TrueZhuangJia]

BTW, if you guys are interested finding a target who directly broke open-source license, go for @Axixi2233:
https://github.com/Axixi2233/moonlight-android
this sun of a beach has been using Github as a binary release platform since the beginning of the fork, never push or update full codebase to the repo, which is a direct violation of GPL3 license.