[DebianGIS] Re: [Qgis-user] ECW Licence
Hi,
On Mon, 2007-01-08 at 14:10 +0100, Paolo Cavallini wrote:
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> I have heard pepole at Debian has analyzed the licence, and they found
> it almost compatible with free redistribution.
> Canop somebody clarify this?
> I think this is a good candidate for a FAQ
> Thanks.
> pc
The license analysis done by Debian is linked from this thread:
http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/pkg-grass-general/2005-August/001083.html
In that thread we discuss builing ecw support as a separate loadable
module to go in Debian contrib, although we haven't yet done so.
I think it is important to note that ER Mapper describes this license as
GPL-like, but it is not the GPL. Josh Triplet also says, "Furthermore,
it should be noted that while their license seems to grant permission to
build GPLed software based on their system, the GPL itself does *not*
grant that permission (since this license is non-free), so any such
GPLed software would need an exception clause to be distributable."
It is also possible that the license has changed since these
discussions. They may have removed the "don't use it with a server
system" requirement, I forget. The restriction on changing the ECW file
format is the main sticking point when it comes to Freeness, though.
Steve
>
> Yves Jacolin ha scritto:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I send an email in this list to know why qgis 0.8 can't read ecw file. Tim
> > Sutton reply me that he was "still unclear if the
> > licensing of ECW is compatible with GPL applications".
> >
> > I just read the SDK pages about the librairy :
> >
> > "You can **select one of the three simple** license agreements for use of this
> > library (full license agreement text is available here and in the SDK
> > itself).
> >
> > Licensing:
> >
> > * Free use license: A free license, providing unlimited
> > read/500MB-per-image compression for ECW and JPEG 2000 in any application
> > including commercial applications.
> > * GPL-style license: A free license, providing unlimited read/unlimited
> > compression for ECW and JPEG 2000 in any GPL style application.
> > * Commercial license: Once off fee license with no royalties for
> > commercial applications needing unlimited compression for ECW and JPEG
> > 2000."
> >
> > So it seems possible to use a GPL-like licence for the librairy. In the
> > licence.txt we can read :
> >
> > "Use of the ECW JPEG 2000 SDK with Unlimited Decompressing and Unlimited
> > Compression for applications licensed under a GNU General Public style
> > license ("GPL") is governed by the "ECW JPEG 2000 SDK PUBLIC USE LICENSE
> > AGREEMENT"."
> >
> > and :
> >
> > "The intent of this license is to establish **freedom to share** and change
> > the software regulated by this license under the open source model and is
> > applicable to the use of the ECW JPEG 2000 SDK with Unlimited Decompressing
> > and Unlimited Compression for applications licensed under a GNU General
> > Public style license ("GPL") as set out below.
> > **This license applies to any use of the Software Product solely intended to
> > develop or be distributed with products that are licensed under a license
> > similar to a General Public License ("GPL") and at no charge to the public**.
> > This license covers modification and distribution of the Software, use of
> > third-party application programs based on the Software, and development of
> > free software that uses the Software."
> >
> > I am not a guru about law and licence, but do you think this quote allow qgis
> > team to distribute qgis with ecw librairy ?
> >
> > Sorry if I missed something !
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Y.
>
> - --
> Paolo Cavallini
> email+jabber: cavallini@faunalia.it
> www.faunalia.it
> Piazza Garibaldi 5 - 56025 Pontedera (PI), Italy Tel: (+39)348-3801953
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