Columbia University is proud of its role in developing and supporting the Kermit protocol and software, first
developed in 1981 by Columbia University to facilitate interconnection of
diverse computers and transfer of data between them. Columbia has been
pleased to offer the various versions of Kermit software for
free or at exceptionally low fees over the years, providing what we
believe has been a valuable contribution to
our community of users the progress and
popularization of computing over the past 30 years.
Unfortunately, Columbia has determined it can no longer continue to support the Kermit Project going forward. As of July 1st, 2011, development of any new Kermit software enhancements at Columbia University will cease, as will any ability of Columbia to provide ongoing maintenance and technical support for Kermit.
As a reminder, existing commercial
licenses of the Kermit software itself are
perpetual, so current users may continue to use your
their
existing licensed copies of Kermit under the terms of the agreement even
after ColumbiaÆs support and maintenance have ceased. In addition, Columbia
intends to continue to make new Kermit 95 licenses
(without maintenance or support obligations) available after July 1st, 2011,
for organizations and individuals that may wish to obtain additional
licenses them. If you or your organization
would like to purchase a new Kermit 95 bulk license or
additional license seats, please contact us via email at techventures@columbia.edu, and
reference “Kermit” in the subject line.
On or before July 1st, Columbia will make available the source code for
any Kermit software software which previously required licensing in a new
Open-Source version bearing the BSD license, except for any code that
Columbia does not own the right to,
Columbia is also exploring ways to make the underlying Kermit code available
to the public after July 1st, 2011, so that the ongoing development of
Kermit can continue beyond ColumbiaÆs involvement.
It is possible that this
will involve an effort to develop an open source version of Kermit.
If you
would like to join an effort to create an open source version of Kermit,
please email us per the contact info below.
In addition, tThe Kermit website
will remain available for the foreseeable future, with pages modified to
indicate the new situation. The Kermit ftp archive will also remain
available for the foreseeable future.
Thank you for your support of the Kermit project over these many years.
For details of the transition, click the first button below.
If
you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us
at
techventures@columbia.edu
by email at the address below.
Transition Details Kermit Project Home Page
Orin Herskowitz
Executive Director and VP of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer
Columbia University
techventures@columbia.edu