License
The Heirloom guarantee
Memophant is sold under The Heirloom License, Version 1.0, variant HL-1.0-MPL2.0-12mo. It's a commercial license with a built-in promise.
The promise, in one sentence
While Memophant is being actively maintained, it's a normal paid commercial product. If it's ever abandoned, the source automatically becomes open source under MPL-2.0 — irrevocably, for everyone, forever.
How it works
Active period
Memophant is a paid product. You can use and run it for any purpose except building a competing product. Source is private during the active period.
Dormancy window
If the developer goes 12 months with no maintenance signal (no release, no commit, no signed heartbeat) AND doesn't answer a good-faith support request within 90 days, the software enters dormancy.
Sunset
After the full dormancy window, Sunset occurs automatically. The source is irrevocably released under MPL-2.0. No committee, no court, no one to petition — it's mechanical.
Resets are free
A single commit, release, or signed heartbeat resets the dormancy clock. An active developer never triggers Sunset.
Why this matters
Indie macOS software has a recurring fear: when the developer moves on, the app dies with them. No updates, no source, no way to keep it alive. Memophant is a tool you use against your codebase — losing it would be worse than losing most apps.
The Heirloom License is the strongest answer we know. It's not a vibe; it's a contract. The dead-man's switch is the delivery mechanism, and the obligation to release source on Sunset exists in the license text whether or not the automation fires.
Memophant's parameters
| Licensor | Alan Wizemann |
|---|---|
| Licensed Work | Memophant version 1.0 and later versions released under this license |
| Change License | MPL-2.0 |
| Dormancy Window | 12 months |
| Source Repository | github.com/awizemann/Memophant |
| Heartbeat Record | memophant.co/.well-known/heirloom-heartbeat.json |
What you can do
Right now:use and run Memophant for any purpose other than building a competing product. Source-availability during the active period is at the developer's discretion and doesn't affect the Sunset promise.
After Sunset:everything MPL-2.0 allows — use, modify, fork, sell commercially. Improvements to the original files stay open (that's why MPL-2.0 and not MIT). Nobody can re-lock the abandoned code into a closed product.
Read more
- heirloomlicense.org — the license home, with the full plain-English summary
- The full legal text (Heirloom License, Version 1.0)
- The same license text, with Memophant's parameters filled in, ships inside the app and in the source repository as
LICENSE.md.
Questions about commercial licensing: licensing@memophant.co. This page summarizes the license — where this page and the license text differ, the license text wins.