Yet more Microsoft licensing issues

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As some of you may know, BitPim is currently stuck on Python 2.3.  This
is for the following 2 reasons:

- - It is the version of Python on MacOS 10.3 and 10.4 and hence Python
doesn't need to be included in the Mac packages
- - On Windows, Python 2.4 and 2.5 are compiled with VC 2003.

VC 2003 has new C runtime libraries which are not shipped as part of
Microsoft operating systems.  (The C runtime from VC 6 is shipped with
Windows 98 onwards).  Just to make life more interesting, Microsoft
won't let you download VC 2003 any more and point you at VC 2006.

The license for the VC2003 redistributables is incompatible with the
GPL.  It basically requires that you restrict your users in a way that
pleases Microsoft and requires you make them agree to a license agreement.

The detail is a clause in the Microsoft redistributable license hat says
"(d) you do not permit further redistribution of the Redistributable
Components by your end-user customers".  The GPL is all about allowing
you to redistribute stuff - in fact it can be summed up as "you can
redistribute as long as you don't remove the rights to redistribute from
those you distribute to"

wxPython/wxWidgets have just come out with version 2.8.  It appears that
on Windows this now requires a library named gdiplus.  Same silly
Microsoft restrictions.

The question is what to do about this?  To be frank I'd be quite happy
to drop Windows support.  I no longer use it.

We can freeze at current versions of Python and wxPython.

We aren't allowed to include the DLLs as part of the installer, but
could make the installer download them in concert with the user from the
Microsoft web site.

For example users would have to go to this page to get gdiplus:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6a63ab9c-df12-4d41-933c-be590feaa05a&displaylang=en

To get msvcr71 I think you have to get people to download the .Net 1.1
runtime!

And since VC2003 isn't even obtainable any more, I have no way of
compiling the extensions anyway.

Roger
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