Re: How to send email without using email client

FROM : Jens Alfke
DATE : Fri May 09 18:38:17 2008

On 9 May '08, at 8:08 AM, Buddy Kurz wrote:

> The problem with that is that when I start reading the LGPL license, 
> my brain cells start dying...
> This is a marginally successful 25 year old closed source commercial 
> application and I don't mind being a self taught programer but I 
> don't want to be a self taught lawyer (or brain surgeon).


The LGPL is pretty reasonable to work with, much more so than the 
straight GPL. Given a choice I'll use BSD-type code, but I do use one 
LGPL-licensed library in my current app.

The main things to be aware of are:

(1) The intent of the LGPL is to make sure that any user of your app 
who wants to make changes to that library, can do so and use the 
changed version in your app (even if they don't have your app's source 
code.) Which implies...

(2) You can use the library in any kind of app (closed-source, BSD, 
whatever) as long as you dynamically link against the library. That 
is, don't add the library source code directly to your target; 
instead, use another target or project or makefile to build it into a 
dylib or framework, then add that to your app's target. [If you 
statically link it, that's when the viral nature of the GPL infects 
your code and requires that you GPL it too.]

(3) You have to make the source code of that library available. If you 
didn't make any changes to the source, it suffices to say somewhere 
(like in your About box or read-me) that you used "FooLib 1.4.5". If 
you did make changes, which haven't been integrated back into the 
library itself, then you have to put your source code somewhere (like 
as a zip file on your website, or even inside your app bundle) and 
give a link to it.

—Jens