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LICENSE.POLICY
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LICENSE.POLICY
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Licensing Policy for GPL'd MiniGUI versions
By now, Feynman Software releases some MiniGUI versions under
GPL license. This is the licensing policy for the GPL'd MiniGUI
versions.
In Brief
========
This is our licensing policy in brief: Our software is 100% GPL,
and if yours is also 100% GPL, then you never have to pay us
for the licences. In all other instances, you are better served
by our commercial licence. Read the details below!
Licensing
========
MiniGUI software is licensed under the GPL license. The formal terms
of the GPL license can be found in the GNU General Public License
section of the MiniGUI User Manual, or the file named "COPYING".
MiniGUI is also available under commercial non-GPL license. For pricing
and ordering information, visit our web page:
http://www.minigui.com/product/index.shtml
1. Free use for those who are 100% GPL
If your application is licensed under GPL, you are free and welcome
to ship any GPL software of FMSoft with your application. By "application"
we mean any type of software application, system, tool or utility.
For doing this, you do not need a separate signed agreement with FMSoft,
because the GPL text is sufficient. But we do recommend you to be in touch
with us as there usually are good opportunities for partnership and
co-marketing.
2. Free use for those who never copy, modify or distribute
As long as you never distribute (internally or externally) the MiniGUI
in any way, you are free to use it for powering your application,
irrespective of whether your application is under GPL license or not.
More specifically:
* Modifying - You are allowed to modify MiniGUI source code any way
you like. If you distribute the modified version, all
changes, all interface code and all code that connects
directly or indirectly to the interface code fall under GPL.
* Copying - You are allowed to copy MiniGUI binaries and source code,
but when you do so, the copies will fall under the GPL.
3. Commercial use for everyone else
If your application is not licensed under GPL and you intend to distribute
MiniGUI software (be that internally or externally), you must first obtain
a commercial license to the MiniGUI software in question.
More specifically:
a) If you link MiniGUI in your non-GPL application, you need a commercial
licence for the MiniGUI library. Using MiniGUI with non-GPL operating
systems (proprietary OSes, like VxWorks, ThreadX, uC/OS-II) falls into
this situation. Linking MiniGUI with your non-GPL application and
proprietary libarires also falls into this situation.
b) If you use MiniGUI library within your organisation and you don't want
to risk it falling under the GPL license, you are welcome to purchase
a commercial license.
c) Many users opt for the commercial licence simply because under it
FMSoft takes responsibility for its products. Under the GPL licence,
there are no warranties or representations from the
developer (i.e. from FMSoft).
4. Exceptions and free commercial licences
If you represent a non-profit organisation or an academic institution, we
recommend you to put your own application under GPL. Thereby you are free to
use MiniGUI software free of charge under the GPL licence. (We also believe
that if you have strong reasons not to go GPL, you also have the monetary
means to purchase commercial licences.)
If you are a private individual you are free to use MiniGUI software for
your personal applications, as long as you do not distribute them.
Please note that even if you ship a free demo version of your own application,
the above rules apply.
5. Finally, what is the recommendation?
To all commercial organisations we do recommend the commercial licence.
Not only does this free you from the far-reaching requirements of
the GPL licence, it also gives you a licence letter from FMSoft where
we assume responsibility for our product. The GPL licence is an "as is"
licence with no warranties whatsoever.
To all GPL/Open Source enthusiasts we do recommend our products under
the GPL licence. We believe that FMSoft is the world's one of the most
important company that offers all its software under the GPL licence.
So help yourself to the MiniGUI and feel the freedom of free software!
To anyone in doubt, we recommend the commercial licence. It is never wrong.
Thanks to our cost-effective way of producing software, we are able to
sell our commercial licences at prices well under the industry average,
and this is without compromising our own profitability.
Older Versions
==============
Note that older versions of the MiniGUI are using the lesser GPL license
(LGPL). See the documentation for the specific version for more
information.
When in doubt
=============
If you have any questions on MiniGUI licensing, feel free to contact us:
mailto: info@minigui.com
GPL = Gnu General Public License, http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
LGPL = GNU General Public License, http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lgpl.html
FMSoft = Feynman Software, http://www.minigui.com