FreedomBox and the Mozilla Public License

[Tom and Esther Ward]

On 04/09/2004 02:11:37 PM, Matt Campbell wrote:
> I have been watching the thread about FreedomBox's supposed violation  
> of the Mozilla Public License, and I wish to publicly set the record  
> straight.
> 
> Section 3.2 of the MPL does clearly say that any modifications to  
> covered code must be released as source code.  However, we did not  
> need to make any modifications to Mozilla to add speech output or  
> voice commands.  As Aaron Leventhal said, we were able to do it by  
> writing a new component that uses Mozilla's existing application  
> programming interfaces (API's).  Therefore, we are not obligated to  
> release the code that adds speech output and voice commands.
> 
> While I would prefer to release our ocde under an open-source  
> license, I understand and respect Serotek's reasons for not doing so.   
> The company needs to protect its intellectual proprety.  I think  
> we've made a good compromise by making the software available at no  
> cost to the user.  Furthermore, uninformed public statements such as  
> those made about the alleged license violation only tarnish the  
> reputation of a company that's trying to do good for the community  
> while still doing well.
> 
> For more information about the Mozilla Public License, read the FAQ,  
> which is available at:
> 
> http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/FAQ.html
> 
> If you have further questions or concerns, please contact me  
> privately; I don't believe this discussion is appropriate for the  
> Speakup list.  Thank you.
> 
>--
> Matt Campbell
> Lead Programmer
> Serotek Corporation
> www.freedombox.info
> 
> 
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