Licensing

We would like our the tools and their technology to be used by as many developers as possible, while at the same time making sure that the tools evolve and improve.

To that end, the Semantix ASN.1 Compiler is offered under a dual licensing mode:

- If you are developing proprietary and/or commercial software with the Semantix ASN.1 compiler, you must purchase a Commercial Developer License. This license is for developers who do not want to share the source code they develop and/or do not want to comply with the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2.1.

- If, on the other hand...

(a) you are in compliance with the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2.1 (that is, amongst other requirements, you will share your complete source code with anyone who asks for it)
AND
(b) you are developing non-commercial applications

...then you can use the compiler for free, with its code and the code it generates governed by the GNU General Public License version 2.1.

By purchasing a Commercial Developer License, you are entitled to one year's worth of premium technical support (via e-mail and phone).

The advantages of getting a commercial license are summarized in the table below:

License type: Commercial GPL

License cost License fee charged No license fee

Must provide access to all source code changes back to Semantix No, modifications can be "closed" to your own system Yes, all source code of your system must be accessible to everyone

Can create proprietary applications Yes, no source code needs to be disclosed No, applications are subject to the GPL and all source code must be made available

Support Yes, 12 months of premium technical support (same-workday access via e-mail and instant messaging) None, but can be purchased separately

Charge for runtimes None None, but all your systems's source code must be available

Custom, mission-specific additions to the tools Yes^* None

This dual licensing scheme is followed by many other businesses (see licenses of Nokia's QT, Oracle/SUN's MySQL, etc). It guarantees the perennity (longevity) of the code, since all the source code of the tools is visible to everyone, while retaining the business case for the efforts behind supporting them - since clients can purchase premium support.

^{*Charges for additions vary, depending on request complexity.}