Licensing Policy for GPLed MiniGUI versions

By now, FMSoft releases MiniGUI versions under GPLv3 license. This is the licensing policy for the GPLed MiniGUI versions.

Note that in this file, "MiniGUI" means MiniGUI core, mGi, mGp, mG3d, mGPlus, mGEff, mGNCS, mGNCS4Touch, and other MiniGUI components and/or tools which will be released under GPL in the future.

In Brief

This is our licensing policy in brief: Our software is 100% GPL, and if yours is also 100% GPL, then you never have to pay us for the licences. In all other instances, you are better served by our commercial licence. Read the details below!

Licensing

MiniGUI software is licensed under the GPL license. The formal terms of the GPL license can be found in the GNU General Public License section of the MiniGUI User Manual, or the file named "LICENSE" or "COPYING".

MiniGUI is also available under commercial non-GPL license. For pricing and ordering information, visit our web page:

http://www.fmsoft.cn/

1. Free use for those who are 100% GPL

If your application is licensed under GPL, you are free and welcome to ship any GPL software of FMSoft with your application. By "application" we mean any type of software application, system, tool or utility. For doing this, you do not need a separate signed agreement with FMSoft, because the GPL text is sufficient. But we do recommend you to be in touch with us as there usually are good opportunities for partnership and co-marketing.

2. Free use for those who never copy, modify or distribute

As long as you never distribute (internally or externally) the MiniGUI in any way, you are free to use it for powering your application, irrespective of whether your application is under GPL license or not.

More specifically:

• Modifying - You are allowed to modify MiniGUI source code any way you like. If you distribute the modified version, all changes, all interface code and all code that connects directly or indirectly to the interface code fall under GPL.

• Copying - You are allowed to copy MiniGUI binaries and source code, but when you do so, the copies will fall under the GPL.

3. Commercial use for everyone else

If your application is not licensed under GPL and you intend to distribute MiniGUI software (be that internally or externally), you must first obtain a commercial license to the MiniGUI software in question.

More specifically:

• If you want to use MiniGUI on an operating system which is not compatible with GPL (most commercial RTOSes, such as VxWorks and ThreadX), you need a commercial license for the MiniGUI library.

• If you link MiniGUI in your non-GPL application, you need a commercial licence for the MiniGUI library. Using MiniGUI with non-GPL operating systems (proprietary OSes, like VxWorks, ThreadX, uC/OS-II) falls into this situation. Linking MiniGUI with your non-GPL application and proprietary libarires also falls into this situation.

• If you use MiniGUI library within your organisation and you don't want to risk it falling under the GPL license, you are welcome to purchase a commercial license.

• Many users opt for the commercial licence simply because under it FMSoft takes responsibility for its products. Under the GPL licence, there are no warranties or representations from the developer (i.e. from FMSoft).

4. Exceptions and free commercial licences

If you represent a non-profit organisation or an academic institution, we recommend you to put your own application under GPL. Thereby you are free to use MiniGUI software free of charge under the GPL licence. (We also believe that if you have strong reasons not to go GPL, you also have the monetary means to purchase commercial licences.)

If you are a private individual you are free to use MiniGUI software for your personal applications, as long as you do not distribute them.

Please note that even if you ship a free demo version of your own application, the above rules apply.

5. Finally, what is the recommendation?

To all commercial organisations we do recommend the commercial licence. Not only does this free you from the far-reaching requirements of the GPL licence, it also gives you a licence letter from FMSoft where we assume responsibility for our product. The GPL licence is an "as is" licence with no warranties whatsoever.

To all GPL/Open Source enthusiasts we do recommend our products under the GPL licence. We believe that FMSoft is the world's one of the most important company that offers all its software under the GPL licence. So help yourself to the MiniGUI and feel the freedom of free software!

To anyone in doubt, we recommend the commercial licence. It is never wrong. Thanks to our cost-effective way of producing software, we are able to sell our commercial licences at prices well under the industry average, and this is without compromising our own profitability.

Older Versions

Note that older versions of the MiniGUI are using the lesser GPL license (LGPL). See the documentation for the specific version for more information.

When in doubt

If you have any questions on MiniGUI licensing, feel free to contact us:

mailto: sales@minigui.com

• GPL = Gnu General Public License, http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
• LGPL = GNU General Public License, http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lgpl.html
• FMSoft = Beijing FMSoft technologies Co., Ltd., http://www.fmsoft.cn