Re: Gnat 3.09 NT - Legal issues

[lrk@pobox.com (Lance Kibblewhite)]

This is the email I received on the Gnu-Win32 list regarding Cygnus'
plans for licensing Cygwin32.

>From: Geoffrey Noer <noer@cygnus.com>
>Subject: Cygnus Cygwin32 Press Release 1/21/97
>To: gnu-win32@cygnus.com
>Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 01:29:11 -0800 (PST)
>Cc: noer@cygnus.com (Geoffrey Noer)
>Sender: owner-gnu-win32@cygnus.com
>
>Greetings,
>
>Following is a copy of the recent Cygwin32 press release made on Jan 21,
>1997.  Of particular note is the fact that Cygnus will be selling
>commercial licenses for Cygwin32 in the first half of 1997.  This means
>that companies wishing to use the Cygwin32 library in proprietary programs
>will be able to do so with a license from Cygnus.  Cygnus will continue
>to provide public releases under the GPL for those people using the library
>in conjunction with the development of free software.
>
>I will send more detailed information to the lists as it becomes available.
>
>Regards,
>
>Geoffrey Noer
>Cygnus Solutions
>noer@cygnus.com
>
>---------------------------------> snip <---------------------------------
> 
>News Release
>For more information contact
>Cygnus Solutions
>Jeacline Marinkovic
>+1-408-542-9600
>
>Cygnus's cygwin32 Supports NT and UNIX Hosts from Single Source Base
>
>Cygnus Solutions announces a preview release of cygwin32--the most complete
>C and C++ POSIX development environment for WindowsNT. With cygwin32,
>developers can support WindowsNT and multiple UNIX platforms from a single
>source base. Cross-platform host targets from a single source base
>provides: 
>
>      * True compatibility of multi-platform applications 
>      * Reduced support costs in development and deployment 
>      * Significantly accelerated time to market 
>
>Cygnus developed cygwin32 in order to port key Internet software packages
>from UNIX to WindowsNT. Popular Internet technologies, such as the GNU
>development tools, MIT's Kerberos, and the Apache web server are freely
>available for the range of UNIX hosts. Cygnus, recognizing the migration
>trend of multi-user applications to NT, created a solution that would bring
>cross-platform support without the development and support costs of
>modifying source code. 
>
>With Cygwin32, the cost of multiplatform support is substantially
>reduced. Existing UNIX source code does not require special changes to
>migrate from Unix to WindowsNT. This means that software can be delivered
>to WindowsNT customers without migrating the sources away from Unix or
>investing in NT development resources.
>
>As a powerful example of this capability, Cygnus ported 250,000 lines of
>software originally part of MIT's Kerberos source base to WindowsNT --
>effectively without changing the source. Not only did Cygwin32 make it
>possible to guarantee Kerberos compatibility across Unix and WindowsNT
>(since both can run the same source base), but it also enabled Cygnus to
>demonstrate the world's first version of Kerberos 5 running on
>WindowsNT. Cross platform support for key Internet technologies was
>highlighted earlier this month when Microsoft announced that WindowsNT 5.0
>will standardize on Kerberos user authentication. Cygnus's KerbNet for NT
>was in beta test as Microsoft made this announcement. 
>
>The preview release of cygwin32 is at 
>
>	ftp://ftp.cygnus.com/pub/gnu-win32/gnu-win32-b17.1 
>
>This software is covered by the GNU General Public License. A commercial
>version with commercial licensing terms will be available in the first half
>of 1997. Cygnus will continue development of cygwin32, targeting additional
>functionality, such as an integrated development environment, for the
>commercial release.
>-
>For help on using this list, send a message to
>"gnu-win32-request@cygnus.com" with one line of text: "help".
>

-- Lance.