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Archive for September, 2009

Sonic Message Manager 2.1 released

September 28th, 2009 Comments off

Version 2.1 of sonic message manager has just been released and it fixes the following bugs and adds a few small extra features:

Depending on your version of Java Web Start, you may or may not get a message requesting you to upgrade. Some versions will download the new version immediately and others will do so in the background and run the new version the next time the application is started. If you have not received the new version after a system reboot, you may need to remove and re-install the application.

This version of Sonic Message Manager is released under the Apache License v2.0, as will all future versions. This license means more freedom to developers wanting to reuse some of the code and allows for more interoperation with other programs and libraries. It also solves the legal issues there used to be with releasing under the GNU GPL. This wasn’t the GPLs fault, it was mine.

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Looking for a new open source license

September 2nd, 2009 Comments off

Sonic Message Manager has always been licensed under the GNU GPL. I have become aware of the fact that this license is not appropriate for the program and the various libraries it needs to work. Because of that the license will need to change.

I have not yet decided which open source license to choose and would like some input on this from anyone with experience in this field. The license that will eventually be applied will need to have at least the following characteristics:

  • Allow modification and redistribution of the source code and binaries by anyone or any company;
  • Does not restrict what other software or source code can be bundled together with (modified) SMM code or binaries.
  • Using closed source libraries in SMM and using parts of SMM in closed source applications must be allowed as long as the SMM code used in the process is made available to the users.

If you have an idea of which license would appropriate to use, please contact me or reply in the comments.

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