Bug#811069: ITP: lbfgsb -- Limited-memory quasi-Newton bound-constrained optimization

[Gard Spreemann <gspreemann@gmail.com>]

Package: wnpp
Severity: wishlist
Owner: Gard Spreemann <gspreemann@gmail.com>

* Package name    : lbfgsb
  Version         : 3.0
  Upstream Author : Ciyou Zhu, Richard Byrd, Jorge Nocedal, Jose Luis Morales
* URL             : http://users.iems.northwestern.edu/~nocedal/lbfgsb.html
* License         : BSD-3-clause
  Programming Lang: Fortran
  Description     : Limited-memory quasi-Newton bound-constrained optimization

The library is a widely used implementation of a bounded,
limited-memory BFGS algorithm.

A search on codesearch.debian.net reveals that at least the following
packages in Debian bundle duplicates of the code:
- python-scipy (see also #778635)
- vxl
- nwchem
- plastimatch
- psi4

I believe that Debian should provide lbfgsb as a standalone library,
as it is useful in its own right and its presence could lead to code
deduplication in the future.

Note that upstream's tarball
(http://users.iems.northwestern.edu/~nocedal/Software/Lbfgsb.3.0.tar.gz)
contains a few prebuilt binaries, and is also a minor tarbomb.

Upstream seems very inactive in the sense that the code appears to be
"done". I have maintained a package for personal use since 2013 and
have never experienced problems. I thus feel I could handle maintaing
the package also for a wider user base going forward.

I would need a sponsor.