Courier package: GPL vs OpenSSL license
Hello,
I'm maintainer of the Courier packages. The upstream source
is copylefted by GPL. Parts of it link against OpenSSL.
I saw some messages that stated these licenses are incompatible.
However, I read in the Open-SSL FAQ:
On many systems including the major Linux and BSD distributions, yes (the
GPL does not place restrictions on using libraries that are part of the
normal operating system distribution).
On other systems, the situation is less clear. Some GPL software copyright
holders claim that you infringe on their rights if you use OpenSSL with
their software on operating systems that don't normally include OpenSSL.
If you develop open source software that uses OpenSSL, you may find it
useful to choose an other license than the GPL, or state explicitly that
"This program is released under the GPL with the additional exemption that
compiling, linking, and/or using OpenSSL is allowed." If you are using
GPL software developed by others, you may want to ask the copyright holder
for permission to use their software with OpenSSL.
I asked the upstream author and he told me that he has certainly no
problem with linking Courier against OpenSSL. He won't make the
mentioned exemption, because he thinks it is simply not necessary.
Can you please tell me if it'll cause problem to integrate the SSL
parts into the Courier packages ?
Thanks
Racke
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