Piwigo.org

plg · 2026-06-30 19:01:43

Hi Schneider-Fotografie,

I was searching why [extension by Schneider] BYB | Bot Protection grew so fast in weight and I saw this:

Code:

/*
 * BYB | Bot Protection v2.5.0 (Piwigo Plugin)
 * Copyright (c) 2025-2026 Olaf Schneider <https://blockyoubots.com>
 * All rights reserved.
 *
 * License: Proprietary.

That's a big NO.

1) piwigo.org/ext is not designed to publish proprietary software
2) a Piwigo plugin cannot be proprietary. It relies on Piwigo which is opensource (GPLv2). The plugin's license must be compatible with GPLv2 license

Schneider-Fotografie · 2026-07-01 14:46:33

After careful consideration, I have decided to discontinue the active development and support of BYB | Bot Protection for Piwigo with immediate effect.

BYB | Bot Protection was developed and published by me as a proprietary plugin. I do not wish to convert it to GPL.

As this is apparently not compatible with the requirements for Piwigo extensions, I kindly ask piwigo.org to remove BYB | Bot Protection, including revisions 1.0.0 to 2.5.0 and the associated image material, from the extension directory.

I also kindly ask for the removal of my extensions “Like / Dislike” and “Smileys & Votes” from the extension directory.

I would like to thank all users who have supported and used my work so far.

I do not wish to make any further statements on this matter.

Thank you.

Olaf Schneider

OHappyDay · 2026-07-01 15:01:44

That is a real pity. The plugin is fantastic and does a great job of protecting piwigo galleries.

Licensing the plugin with a GPL compatible license would allow others to continue your work.
Please reconsider your decision.

Klaus

Katryne · 2026-07-01 15:07:34

Without BYB, my Piwigos won't be able to survive in this bot universe. I'm now wondering about their relevance, and I'm torn between privatizing them, shutting them down completely, or managing them locally on my home server—but without external access.

OHappyDay · 2026-07-01 15:12:53

That is the reason why Olaf discontinues the plugin:

https://blockyoubots.com/prices.php

Katryne · 2026-07-01 15:22:06

That has always been the case since it started a year ago. With the notable exception of the Piwigo version, which has always been available for free. I hope it stays that way.

Schneider-Fotografie · 2026-07-01 15:38:31

OHappyDay wrote:
That is the reason why Olaf discontinues the plugin:

https://blockyoubots.com/prices.php

That is not correct.

The prices on blockyoubots.com refer to the BYB Standalone products, not to BYB | Bot Protection for Piwigo.

These are two different programs.

BYB | Bot Protection for Piwigo was always provided for free, and it would have remained free for Piwigo users.

My decision to discontinue the Piwigo plugin is not related to selling the Piwigo plugin.

The reason is the licensing issue: BYB | Bot Protection for Piwigo was developed and published by me as a proprietary plugin, and I do not wish to convert it to GPL.

Since this is apparently not compatible with the requirements for Piwigo extensions, I asked piwigo.org to remove the plugin from the extension directory.

Please do not confuse the commercial BYB Standalone products with the free BYB plugin for Piwigo.

Olaf Schneider

plg · 2026-07-01 16:40:16

Schneider-Fotografie wrote:
After careful consideration, I have decided to discontinue the active development and support of BYB | Bot Protection for Piwigo with immediate effect.

BYB | Bot Protection was developed and published by me as a proprietary plugin. I do not wish to convert it to GPL.

I understand you do not wish to change your license. However your reaction is not exactly what I had expected ;-)

The code in your plugin is perfectly readable which is not very "proprietary". I mean you didn't try to obfuscate it, did you?

For me, and we're going to make it much more obvious, a Piwigo plugin must be compatible with GPLv2 license, thus opensource.

It doesn't mean your system must be fully opensource.

You can provide an opensource Piwigo plugin which performs requests on a "not-so-opensource" API. Plugins like [extension by sebrenou] Microsoft 365 Connect or [extension by Zacharieg] Tag Recognition or [extension by rvelices] RV Maps & Earth work this way.

Schneider-Fotografie · 2026-07-01 18:12:34

Hello plg,

thank you for your reply.

No, I did not obfuscate the code. That was never my intention. The plugin code was readable because I wanted Piwigo administrators to be able to understand what the plugin does on their own installation.

There was no malicious intention and no attempt to hide anything.

The notice “License: Proprietary” has been in BYB | Bot Protection for Piwigo since version 1.8.1, released on Saturday, 18 October 2025. For me, this was about protecting my work from unauthorized reuse, redistribution or modification under different conditions. It was not meant as an attempt to deceive anyone.

I also want to explain why blockyoubots.com became involved.

BYB | Bot Protection for Piwigo was originally published through piwigo.org. Later, the plugin became much larger because I continued to improve it and added more protection modules, logs, statistics, status reports, update checks and other security features.

At some point, I could no longer upload the newer plugin package to piwigo.org. That is why I introduced the update system and provided the newer Piwigo plugin updates through blockyoubots.com.

This was not done with bad intentions. It was a practical solution because I could no longer provide the larger updates through the Piwigo extension upload.

The BYB Test Center was also created for this reason: to give every website owner the possibility to test whether their website or gallery can be reached correctly and whether BYB is working as expected.

BYB | Bot Protection for Piwigo was developed because my own website and gallery were being overrun by bots. They distorted visitor statistics, created unnecessary traffic and made it difficult to see real human activity. I first built BYB to protect my own Piwigo gallery, and later I shared it with the Piwigo community because other gallery owners may have the same problem.

So again: nothing was hidden, nothing was obfuscated, and there was no malicious intention.

Kind regards,
Olaf

Piwigo.org

Announcement

#1 2026-06-30 19:01:43

BYB Bot Protection and plugin license

Code:

#2 2026-07-01 14:46:33

Re: BYB Bot Protection and plugin license

#3 2026-07-01 15:01:44

Re: BYB Bot Protection and plugin license

#4 2026-07-01 15:07:34

Re: BYB Bot Protection and plugin license

#5 2026-07-01 15:12:53

Re: BYB Bot Protection and plugin license

#6 2026-07-01 15:22:06

Re: BYB Bot Protection and plugin license

#7 2026-07-01 15:38:31

Re: BYB Bot Protection and plugin license

OHappyDay wrote:

#8 2026-07-01 16:40:16

Re: BYB Bot Protection and plugin license

Schneider-Fotografie wrote:

#9 2026-07-01 18:12:34

Re: BYB Bot Protection and plugin license

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