You must read the licensing document titled "Licensing Info" prior to running this version of MacHTTP. Installing and running MacHTTP means that you agree to the terms and conditions of the MacHTTP license.
As of version 1.3, MacHTTP is no longer completely "free." The increasing amount of time I am spending outside my "day job" developing and supporting MacHTTP coupled with the cost of licensing AppleScript for inclusion with MacHTTP means that some costs need to be recovered. The "Licensing Info" and "Ordering Info" documents detail the costs for various types of users.
Please note that license fees for individual users running "free" servers not affiliated with any commercial, government, or educational institution can be waived. This means that MacHTTP is still available to the "little guys" on the net at little or no charge. Also, educational institutions receive a 50% discount.
My goal in developing MacHTTP is to make publishing on the World Wide Web possible by every Mac user on the Internet. Therefore, this archive contains complete, fully functional MacHTTP software and is being distributed via public networks such as the Internet in order to make it as widely available as possible. I am trusting those individuals who are deriving a benefit from running MacHTTP to properly license the software.
Licensing "PlainSpeak"
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Admittedly, the licensing terms are a little obfuscated. Here's a quick translation. First, if you are evaluating MacHTTP, playing with it on your own Mac without more than a handful of users, or using it at home, a church, or other charity organization, or are a "starving student", then you are probably a candidate for a No Cost license.
If you are using MacHTTP in a commercial, government, or academic institution for "business" purposes (i.e., running a server that other people access), then you should pay the appropriate license fee after the evaluation period expires.
In short, if you are doing something with MacHTTP that benefits your organization in some measureable way, then I encourage you to pay for it. If you are playing around, not creating a serious server, or can make a case for a real hardship, then please ask for a No Cost license. In any case, I encourage everyone using MacHTTP to register it.
Licensed users of any type will be entitled to upgrade MacHTTP for at least one year after their license starts at no cost. Depending on what nifty features show up in future versions, the option for some sort of support agreement may become available for users who feel they would benefit from increased tech support or upgrades beyond the initial upgrade period.
Finally, a point of clarification. The MacHTTP development effort occurs outside my normal job as a University of Texas-Houston employee. While UT Houston provide the facilities for the machttp_talk mailing list and MacHTTP Home Page, they don't provide development resources or time for working on MacHTTP code. So, those of you who may be concerned by the "disappearance" of any UT references from documentation about MacHTTP needn't worry (it just makes the lawyers happy that way). MacHTTP will continue to have my undivided attention as a product and receive timely support and updates as in the past, since nothing has really changed other than a dialog box or two.
