Can I use cacert.pem file (MPL 2.0) as part of my proprietary program

Question

I need The Mozilla CA certificate store file in PEM format to be always available to my Windows C++ proprietary application. I can copy it to user machine as part of normal installation of software, but for several reasons (e.g. working without installation from single exe file) I'd like to have this file bundled into my application as string or binary resource, so I don't have to worry if this file is missing.

In my understanding this is not source code. This is data file. I can't find appropriate clause about data files in MPL 2.0 description and corresponding FAQ.

Also, from my understanding of FAQ I can build my application using source code licensed under MPL. I hope it covers the case with using CA file as well.

Can you confirm this?

Answer 1

If you combine the certificates with your executable as a single file, then I would consider the file with the certificate information (be it a resource file or a source file containing a string) a source file of the application and not a data file.

You can combine MPL-licensed code with code under most other licenses, provided that

• You don't restrict the rights of your users with regards to the code that is subject to the MPL license
• You distribute the files that are subject to the MPL license in source code form.

If you would put the certificates in a string in a source file by itself, then only that single file is subject to the MPL license and needs to be made publicly available.