[Openvpn-devel] OpenVPN project funding and Windows TAP driver license

[James Yonan]

As always, it's a challenge to maintain a popular project such as 
OpenVPN on a shoestring, and I'd like to thank everyone who has made a 
contribution thus far.

The Windows TAP driver is becoming more expensive to support, especially 
with the new Vista driver signing requirements.  I plan to jump through 
the hoops so that the Windows TAP driver will be fully signed for Vista, 
however this comes at a recurring cost, and I am considering ways that 
the OpenVPN project can offset these and other costs by increasing its 
sources of revenue.

The Windows TAP driver has always been dual-licensed by OpenVPN 
Solutions LLC, with the GPL license for free usage, and a paid 
commercial license for companies that don't want to be restricted by the 
terms of the GPL, or that want to package the TAP driver in commercial 
software.  One method I'm considering to help increase project revenue, 
but in a way that won't affect the vast majority of OpenVPN users, is to 
change the dual-licensing terms for the 2.1 Windows TAP driver, so that 
the free license would explicitly not allow commercial redistribution.  
This would mean that companies that package the Windows version of 
OpenVPN or the Windows TAP driver into a commercial product or service 
would now need to obtain a paid commercial license.  Keep in mind that 
the terms of the GPL already restrict commercial redistribution of GPL 
and non-GPL code, and most companies that want to do so already must 
obtain a commercial license, however I'm proposing to make the 
delineation between the free and paid licenses more legally precise, and 
centered on whether or not commercial redistribution is occurring.

This is just a proposal at this point, and I would like feedback from 
the community.  Is this a reasonable idea for funding the project?   
Comments appreciated.

James