Acquisition (software)

Infobox Software
name = Acquisition

developer = David Watanabe
frequently_updated = yes
operating system = Mac OS X
genre = file sharing
license = Shareware (Single User from $25)
website = http://www.acquisitionx.com/

Acquisition is a Gnutella-based peer-to-peer and BitTorrent client for Mac OS X. It is based on LimeWire and is a shareware product, priced from $25. Acquisition is noted for being one of the most polished peer-to-peer applications available for Mac OS X, making full use of Apple's Cocoa APIs.Fact|date=August 2008

Acquisition's use of the LimeWire core libraries,which are used under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL), has caused some controversy.Fact|date=August 2008 CriticsWho|date=August 2008 argue that the two parts of Acquisition (the GUI and the modified LimeWire core) are not really independent and thereby constitute a single work which cannot be relicensed. [http://groups.sims.berkeley.edu/osdddi/?p=52] However, since the graphical user interface and the open source, modified LimeWire core are run as separate processes, communicating via Unix pipes, Acquisition's supportersWho|date=August 2008 argue that this usage is entirely permissible, as the GPL considers piped communication a valid method of separating programs in most cases. [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#MereAggregation] This follows in the footsteps of the precedent set by Apple's proprietary Xcode suite, which relies on open source components such as gcc and gdb.

External links

* [http://www.acquisitionx.com/ Acquisition home page]
* [http://www.acquisitionx.org/ Acquisition's modified Limewire code, released under the GPL]