IMAPD is included in main because it has a license which people usually interpret as giving permission to distribute modified versions.
But the University of Washington explicitly says they don't believe it means this. In effect, we cannot consider IMAPD as free software unless we are willing to dare them to sue us. I've included a recent message in which they clearly state they believe that you have to *ask* for permission to distribute a modified version. Now, it could be that they will give us permission to release a modified version and to permit others to modify our version. If so, then our version would be free even if theirs isn't, and that would solve the problem. It could make sense to ask (but it would be better not to mention my name, because the FSF and the UW almost had a lawsuit about this very issue for PINE). So I hope that Debian will move IMAPD out of main, if Debian cannot get permission to release a free version. How do other free IMAP servers compare with IMAPD? Would someone like to write down a list of what is needed to improve some other server so that it would make IMAPD uninteresting? We could then try to find someone to do the work. Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 10:44:12 -0700 (Pacific Daylight Time) From: Lori Stevens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: Lori Stevens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: UW IMAPD To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wolfgang Thanks for your inquiry. UW\\\'s intent has always been to allow others to modify the UW IMAPD for their own needs, or to redistribute the original version, without having to ask for permission. We do expect and appreciate folks to ask before re-distributing derivative works, but obtaining permission is not onerous; indeed, by this message you have our permission to do so. We confirm that we have given you permission to distribute a modified version of IMAPD on the condition that you assume all risks when you do so and agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the University of Washington from any and all claims or damages that might arise through your activity related to a modified IMAPD. In order to reduce confusion and facilitate debugging, we request that locally modified versions, including those which are distributed, either be denoted by appending a letter to the current version number or that you in some way show that it is a derivative work in the version number. regards, Lori Stevens -----
