> If I'm going to be mean for a second then I could get the thought that > the only reason to allow Open Source systems to use this software that > i to spread the software so solaris and windows users *have* to pay > you. That is what I read out of the license, but you mails probally > shows otherwise. > Not to prolong this discussion, but to make sure there is no misunderstanding: No user on earth has to pay for C-Kermit, even if they are using Solaris. Similarly, no *company* has to pay for it, if it is for their own use. However, Sun (unlike, say, Debian or Red Hat) *would* have to pay to (for example) include C-Kermit as part of SunOS. As, for example, HP has done with HP-UX. In this case, Sun and HP are not *users*, they are commoditizers. And let's face it, they can afford to pay a few dollars to subsidize a project that gives away the software to all end users on earth (and anywhere else :-)
There's no point arguing about the license -- we have to pay our bills here, and selling a few large licenses to companies that can easily afford them is how we do it -- but I don't want people to misunderstand the license. Again, for those who are assuming what it says without actually reading it, it's at: ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/ - Frank