FOSS Exception

[gdr...@gmail.com]

On the Licensing web page, the following appears:

We are currently working on an Open Source License Exception
for FOSS Applications which are released under licenses which
are not compatible with GNU GPL v3.

Do you have any details or timelines for that? I'm working on an application that I would eventually like to release under an MIT- or Apache-style license which could really benefit from such an exception. Without such an exception in place, my alternatives are either to reinvent the wheel with another library (which would be a huge amount of work) or GPL the application. I would much rather work with an exception and contribute any necessary fixes/enhancements to vmime itself.

At the moment, I intend to wrap vmime so as to limit the impact if I have to replace it, but I'd prefer to not have to do so.

[Vincent Richard]

Hello!

Thank you for your interest in VMime.

Unfortunately, I have gave up the idea of adding a FOSS exception to the VMime license, as it would significantly affect the essence of the GNU GPL license, which is currently in use for VMime. Adding an exception for MIT, BSD or even Apache-style license would effectively means that VMime license is (sort of) LGPL instead of GPL, which I don't want.

Special licensing terms and exceptions are now provided on a case by case basis.

I will update the page soon.

Cheers,

Vincent