Re: SyncML

Quoting Alan Cox <alan_at_lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk>:

> > library/client/server/engine? The reference toolkit released by the
> > SyncML Initiative appears to be licensed
> >(http://www.syncml.org/php/licence.php3)
> > under a BSD style license. If this sort of license is unacceptable, I have

> I had a dig. Its under a BSD license because you have to license
> patents to implement syncml and do so under as yet undecided terms.

That is unfortunate. The "SyncML Intellectual Property/Patent Issues" thread
(http://www.handhelds.org/pipermail/ipaq/2001-February/004265.html) on the iPAQ
mailing list a year ago gave me some hope but apparently it is for not. BTW,
did the SyncML people ever appoint a "Open Source Liason"?

After a little more searching I found the somewhat ugly "pimPAQ is work in
progress" thread
(http://www.handhelds.org/pipermail/ipaq/2001-February/004147.html).

> > found two projects that aim to create a LGPL'd SyncML library: libsyncml
> > (http://sourceforge.net/projects/libsyncml/) and SyncML SDK
> > (http://sourceforge.net/projects/syncmlsdk/). The former is
> > implemented in C++ only and claims to be pre-alpha while the latter has not
> > relased anything and appears to have very little activity. Anyone have any
> > recommendations?

> If you are in the US syncml appears to be a non option. Starfish are bound
> to be looking for $10K+ as a "reasonable non discriminatory" license, if
> not require per unit payments.
This really sucks. The only so called standard for data synchronization (that I
know of) can not be used.

So now what? I don't feel like implementing a brand new synchronization
protocol from scratch and then trying to get application developers to adopt it.
 However if this is what it will take to have a free synchronization solution
for Linux then so be it, I'll try.

Anybody have an idea how we can solve the synchronization problem?

Brent
Received on Wed Jan 02 2002 - 20:55:09 EST