Kenyth Zeng's Library tagged FAQ →  View Popular

Most collaboration systems merge text at the document level, or
apply locking at the document or paragraph level. With EtherPad,
character-level changes to a document are merged as multiple
people type. In most cases, real-time collaborators can negotiate
who is editing what parts of the text. In all cases, EtherPad
ensures consistency between everyone's screens, regardless of the
timing of network operations, using a novel synchronization
algorithm.

EtherPad sends messages in both directions between the browser
and the server, using a technology often called "Comet" or "server
push". This comparatively recent innovation in web app functionality
allows EtherPad to be fully real-time.

• 62.8% of projects tracked on freshmeat are GPL
• As of November 2003 71% of projects on SourceForge were GPL

No. GPL requirements are only triggered upon distribution of code. Under the terms of the GPL, you are only required to release software under GPL if



• You distribute (the GPLv3 uses the word “convey”) the software. This is clarified and narrowed in GPLv3 which specifically states that “mere interaction with a user through a computer network, with no transfer of a copy, is not conveying.” AND
• You modify the software or create a “derivative work”. The definitions for modification and derivative works can be complicated and should be reviewed by legal counsel.