Re: XForms: Xforms licensing questions

T.C. Zhao (tc_zhao@yahoo.com)
Sat, 27 Mar 1999 07:32:21 -0800 (PST)

# To subscribers of the xforms list from "T.C. Zhao" <tc_zhao@yahoo.com> :


Good questions. Before anwsering any specific questions,
I think it helps to know the spirit of xforms licensing.
For start-up and sharewares, it's basically
"if you made a lot of money and believe xforms helped you in
any way, send us some". I trust fellow hackers judgement
of fairness.

--- Tristan Savatier <tristan@mpegtv.com> wrote:
> My questions are the following:
>
> 1) Does your licensing policy makes a special case for Shareware,
i.e.
> in case a shareware is distributed (for free), do you grant the
> right to use Xforms ath no charge for the free copies of the
shareware
> (i.e.
> un-registered) ?

Definitely. free copies of shareware are certainly no commercial
software.
>
> 2) Does your licensing policy requires to get an Xforms licence when
> selling licenses for a software that links dynamically to Xforms
> but does not include Xforms ? Are your licensing terms different
> when the application is statically linked to Xforms (i.e. includes
> some of the Xforms code) or includes the Xforms library in its
package
> ?
> In other words, is there a difference between just using Xforms
> and distributing the library, in terms of licensing ?
No. linking statically or dynamically does not make any difference
to me, and I would not want to get into these kinds of details on
what the users do.
Again, it's the spirit of the thing. One exception: If the application
requires modified library, it'll have to link statically.
>
> 3) Some Linux distributions include the Xforms library
> package (e.g. S.u.S.E). Our shareware is bundled with some
> of those Linux distributions (for free, since it is
> the shareware version that we bundle, not the 'commercial' or
> registered version). Our shareware is distributed
> in a format that uses the Xforms package of the distribution
> (linked dynamically). Do we need some type of licensing agreement
> for distributing our Shareware ?
No. anything that's free is ok.
>Do we have to pay anything for
> the shareware copies that we distribute at no charge ?
No. See above.
> Do we have to pay anything for copies that the user
> registers, even though it uses the Xforms
> library that comes with the Linux distribution ?
It does not matter where xforms comes from. If your product
requires xforms, which presumebly helps you sell your product,
and you made money, hopefully, a lot of it, you should consider
share it a little. The current licensing terms calls for
$500 per 2000 copies sold, but it's really negotiable and
ultimately determined by what you and I think it's fair.
>
> 4) Some Linux distributions DO NOT include the Xforms library
> package (e.g. Red-Hat). Our shareware is bundled with some
> of those Linux distributions (for free, since it is
> the shareware version that we bundle, not the 'commercial' or
> registered version). In this case,
> we have to include the Xforms library with our product,
> or link it statically, or direct the user to download
> xforms from the Xforms website (that unfortunately does not provide
> the proper package format e.g. RPM etc). We prefer to include
> Xforms with our shareware, in a proper package format (e.g. RPM).
> In this case, do we need some type of licensing agreement ?
No. You can include xforms in whatever form you want.
> Same questions:
> Do we have to pay anything for shareware copies that
> we distribute at no charge ?
no.
> Do we have to pay anything for copies that the user register ?
If they pay you money, yes. Again, if $500 per 2000 copies
sold is too much a burden, pay whatever you think is fair,
that includes 0.

xforms is never intended to be a money making endeavor. If it
were, there would not have been xforms. There are far better
ways of making money.

>
> We need very urgent precise answers to all those questions.
Hopefully my answers are precise enough to be useful.
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