On Tue, 2004-08-24 at 14:00, wayne wrote:
[snip]
It appears (IANAL) that the Microsoft patent license is incompatible
with the GPL. This means that such programs as exim and spamassassin
*can not* implement SenderID. This is a problem, and in my humble
opinion, a very serious one.
I agree it's very serious and it doesn't take a lawyer to see just how
incompatible this is with the GPL. In fact, anyone who says to 'talk to
your laywer' is being disingenuous if he also states that Microsoft has
made their IPR claims clear. The GPL is in no way as complex as people
make it out to be. If I need to talk to a lawyer, it's because this IPR
claim itself is *not* clear.
I may take some time tonight to draft my DEPLOYment objection. I'm a
little hesitant, as I have never posted to, only lurked on the list for
a while. But I want my voice to be heard. The dismissiveness with
which some people are treating this is dishearting, and boarding on
offensive. The GPL is a fact of life, whether the IETF likes it or
not. It is this very dismissiveness that has the potential to make the
IETF more and more irrelevant.
As a side note, version 3.0 of Spamassassin is no longer covered under
the GPL...since The Apache Foundation is funding it now (or so I think I
remember it is), the license has been changed to the Apache License.
Your statement still applies, though, and I'd add to that list
courier-mta and PowerMail at a minimum.
--
-Paul Iadonisi
Senior System Administrator
Red Hat Certified Engineer / Local Linux Lobbyist
Ever see a penguin fly? -- Try Linux.
GPL all the way: Sell services, don't lease secrets