[libmicrohttpd] libmicrohttpd GPL w/exception license

[Christian Grothoff]

Dear all,

I've received a well-motivated request for dual-licensing MHD under both LGPL 
and GPL plus a special exception (you may have seen a part of that discussion 
on this mailing list a while back). I've send out some e-mails and the result 
has been that all (for copyright purposes, as far as I can determine) relevant 
copyright owners have agreed (via e-mail to me) to adding the FSF-recognized 
eCos License (http://ecos.sourceware.org/license-overview.html) to the set of 
licenses under which MHD is licensed.  However, there is one catch, this 
*excludes* the code for HTTPS support (which includes gnuTLS, which remains 
LGPL only).

So as long as you *disable* HTTPS/SSL support in "configure", you can now use 
the MHD code under the eCos License (or, of course, you can *always* simply 
continue to use it under the LGPL, which for most applications should make no 
difference).  For the "official" record, the eCos license is:


"... a modified version of the well known GNU General Public License (GPL). 
(...) An exception clause has been added which limits the circumstances in 
which the license applies to other code when used in conjunction with MHD. The 
exception clause is as follows:

As a special exception, if other files instantiate templates or use macros or 
inline functions from this file, or you compile this file and link it with 
other works to produce a work based on this file, this file does not by itself 
cause the resulting work to be covered by the GNU General Public License. 
However the source code for this file must still be made available in 
accordance with section (3) of the GNU General Public License.

This exception does not invalidate any other reasons why a work based on this 
file might be covered by the GNU General Public License."


I will add a note to the MHD code base to this effect shortly (I do not plan 
to modify every single file but just add a general statement in the top-level 
directory; if someone thinks you need it in every file (except the HTTPS code 
of course), feel free to send me a patch...).  

Happy hacking!

Christian