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Subject: Re: Postfix License (was Re: where is postfix used)
From: Bennett Todd (betrahul.net)
Date: Tue Jun 20 2000 - 22:16:54 CDT

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2000-06-20-22:31:18 Francisco Reyes:
> What is this "termination clause"

It was something that has been fixed, long ago. The message Wietse
was reproducing here was from over a year ago, in May of 1999.

When Postfix was first publicly released, it came with IBM's first
attempt to make a good-faith license to satisfy us Open Source
loving folks. They were treading on new ground to them, and their
lawyers tucked in a little clause something along these lines
(paraphrased, from memory, as I understood it):

    If anybody were to ever sue IBM for a patent infringement based
    on patents applying to algorithms found in code within Postfix,
    and in IBM's judgement the suit were in danger of prevailing,
    IBM could issue a replacement for Postfix that avoided the
    problem, or, at IBM's discretion, IBM could withdraw Postfix
    from free use, cancelling the rights granted under the license.

Understandably this made the more cautious and careful folks a
little concerned. The good folks from the Open Source Initiative
<URL:http://www.opensource.org/> weighed in with careful arguments,
Wietse pressed our case within IBM, and IBM surprised those inclined
to assume them to be evil, and came out with a new license that
fixed the problem. All in all an _exceedingly_ satisfying exchange
in every way. It's just possible that the completely happy and
satisfactory resolution of that icky bit was as big a surprise, all
told, as IBM's decision to sponsor Wietse's development of an open
source MTA in the first place.

> I actually read the darn license and found it "interesting",
> but I don't recall seeing anything about termination.

It's gone, so long that people have recovered from the hangovers
from the parties celebrating its removal.

> Any plans, possibilities of changing this "clause" in the
> future?

We're way ahead of you:-).

- -Bennett
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