Hi again, all.

The idea of switching to using something other than sendmail as NetBSD's
main mailer has been lobbed about lately. I, personally, think that it
would be better to stick with sendmail, for a number of more or less valid
reasons.

In any event, it's what most of us are the most familiar with.

It seems to me that the reason for not distributing 8.9.x with NetBSD was
that the license had a required, open-ended term for redistribution of
source code. This seems to no longer be the case.

Here's the most recent copy of the sendmail license I can find,
from ftp.sendmail.org:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             SENDMAIL LICENSE

The following license terms and conditions apply, unless a different
license is obtained from Sendmail, Inc., 1401 Park Avenue, Emeryville, CA
94608, or by electronic mail at license@sendmail.com.

License Terms:

Use, Modification and Redistribution (including distribution of any
modified or derived work) in source and binary forms is permitted only if
each of the following conditions is met:

1. Redistributions qualify as "freeware" or "Open Source Software" under
   one of the following terms:

   (a) Redistributions are made at no charge beyond the reasonable cost of
       materials and delivery.

   (b) Redistributions are accompanied by a copy of the Source Code or by an
       irrevocable offer to provide a copy of the Source Code for up to three
       years at the cost of materials and delivery.  Such redistributions
       must allow further use, modification, and redistribution of the Source
       Code under substantially the same terms as this license.  For the
       purposes of redistribution "Source Code" means the complete source
       code of sendmail including all modifications.

   Other forms of redistribution are allowed only under a separate royalty-
   free agreement permitting such redistribution subject to standard
   commercial terms and conditions.  A copy of such agreement may be
   obtained from Sendmail, Inc. at the above address.

2. Redistributions of source code must retain the copyright notices as they
   appear in each source code file, these license terms, and the
   disclaimer/limitation of liability set forth as paragraph 6 below.

3. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the Copyright Notice,
   these license terms, and the disclaimer/limitation of liability set
   forth as paragraph 6 below, in the documentation and/or other materials
   provided with the distribution.  For the purposes of binary distribution
   the "Copyright Notice" refers to the following language:
   "Copyright (c) 1998 Sendmail, Inc.  All rights reserved."

4. Neither the name of Sendmail, Inc. nor the University of California nor
   the names of their contributors may be used to endorse or promote
   products derived from this software without specific prior written
   permission.  The name "sendmail" is a trademark of Sendmail, Inc.

5. All redistributions must comply with the conditions imposed by the
   University of California on certain embedded code, whose copyright
   notice and conditions for redistribution are as follows:

   (a) Copyright (c) 1988, 1993 The Regents of the University of
       California.  All rights reserved.

   (b) Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
       modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
       are met:

      (i)   Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
            notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

      (ii)  Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
            copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
            disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
            with the distribution.

      (iii) All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this
            software must display the following acknowledgement:  "This
            product includes software developed by the University of
            California, Berkeley and its contributors."

      (iv)  Neither the name of the University nor the names of its
            contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
            from this software without specific prior written permission.

6. Disclaimer/Limitation of Liability: THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY
   SENDMAIL, INC. AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
   WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN
   NO EVENT SHALL SENDMAIL, INC., THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
   CALIFORNIA OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
   INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
   NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF
   USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
   ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
   (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
   THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

(Version 8.6, last updated 6/24/98)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I asked about this at LISA today, and it seems that both FreeBSD and OpenBSD
are using sendmail 8.9.x. Looking at the latest copy of the license, this
seems reasonable. The license is quite like the BSD license. The unlimited
term of redistribution has been excised, evidently, and my reading is that
the three-year term is optional, although this isn't completely clear to me.
In the strictest sense, taking each item in the license as being mandatory,
it still seems like it's acceptable. It's certainly no *less* acceptable,
IMHO, than the GPL, and *BSD wouldn't exist without many GPLed tools, as I
see it. (gcc floats to the top here...)

Adding the flexibility to easily use alternative mailers is a good idea, but
continuing to use sendmail as our primary mailer, and using the newer versions
of sendmail that make it easier for sites to be "good citizens" through the
automatic denial of relaying, easy use of the rbl, etc., simply strikes me
as being remarkably worthwhile.

Thoughts?

-- 
Mason Loring Bliss..mason@acheron.middleboro.ma.us...acheron.ddns.org/mason
"In the drowsy dark cave of the mind dreams build their nest with fragments
  dropped from day's caravan."--Rabindranath Tagore..awake ? sleep : dream;