gpgme license

[Marc Mutz]

Hi,

since the Aegypten-2 project, we committed ourselves to use gpgme in KDEPIM to 
interface to gnupg 1.x (and pre-2.0).

Unfortunately, this conflicts with the possibility to have KDEPIM native on 
Windows. The problem here is of course that Qt on Windows is not available in 
a GPL version, and the alternative cygwin solution is considered by many to 
not be native enough to compete with native Windows solutions.

So on behalf of the KDEPIM team I'd like to ask the gpgme team to consider a 
change in the license of gpgme. We would be interested in having either the 
Qt exception added (see below for the exact wording (same as the one 
suggested in the FSF FAQ)), or go the full way and have it LGPL.

The benfits for gpgme/gnupg would be a chance to gain in the size of the user 
base. As we have seen during Aegypten-2, KDEPIM using gpgme seriously let to 
a lot of bug fixes and portability fixes for gpgme being posted back upstream 
from libgpgme-copy in KDEPIM CVS. The change in usebase from Unix to Windows 
could have a similar effect on the stability and portability of gpgme.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

Qt exception as is is currently worded in KMail:
    In addition, as a special exception, the copyright holders give
    permission to link the code of this program with any edition of
    the Qt library by Trolltech AS, Norway (or with modified versions
    of Qt that use the same license as Qt), and distribute linked
    combinations including the two.  You must obey the GNU General
    Public License in all respects for all of the code used other than
    Qt.  If you modify this file, you may extend this exception to
    your version of the file, but you are not obligated to do so.  If
    you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement from
    your version.

Marc

-- 
Marc Mutz -- marc at klaralvdalens-datakonsult.se, mutz at kde.org
Klarälvdalens Datakonsult AB, Platform-independent software solutions