Re: IRAF package license
Justin Pryzby wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I'm near completion of a Debian package of IRAF, previously packaged by
> Zed Paubre, who has agreed to sponsor me. I believe this new release
> has new license issues.
>
> Here's the deal. IRAF depends on TABLES
Really? :-P Ow. Oh, wait, I think I see...
"IRAF core" does not depend on anything.
"TABLES" depends on "IRAF core".
"NOAO" depends on "TABLES".
But "NOAO" and "IRAF core" are distributed in the same upstream.
Would it be feasible to break the linkage by splitting up the packages in
some manner? I think it would be worth it if it was possible
> (distributed separately, but
> TABLES depends on IRAF, so I'm preparing a new tarball to be the Debian
> .orig. There are other reasons, too.)
>
> TABLES has the following license:
> This software was prepared by Space Telescope Science Institute under
> U.S. Government contract NAS5-26555. Users shall not, without prior
> written permission of the U.S. Government, establish a claim to
> statutory copyright. The Government and others acting on its behalf,
> shall have a royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide
> license for Government purposes to publish, distribute, translate,
> copy, exhibit, and perform such material.
Riiight. Well, that doesn't actually give a license to redistribute. At
all.
It appears that it was not actually created by the US Government. (If it
was, it would be in the public domain.) Try to find out the copyright
status (it could be in the public domain, it could be held by Space
Telescope Science Institute, it could be held by the US Government, or
other possibilities). The Space Telescope Science Institute should know!
Whichever it is, they should be able to get you a more generous license. I
hope. I think so, anyway.
> And IRAF has:
> Copyright(c) 1986 Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
> Inc.
>
> The IRAF software is publicly available, but is NOT in the public domain.
> The difference is that copyrights granting rights for unrestricted use and
> redistribution have been placed on all of the software to identify its
> authors. You are allowed and encouraged to take this software and use it
> as you wish, subject to the restrictions outlined below.
>
> Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its
> documentation is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above
> copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice
> and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that
> references to the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
> Inc. (AURA), the National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO), or the
> Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF) not be used in advertising or
> publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific,
> written prior
> permission from NOAO. NOAO makes no representations about the suitability
> of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express
> or implied warranty.
>
> NOAO DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL
> IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL NOAO
> BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY
> DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN
> AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
> OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
Right, that is free.
> NCARGRAPHICS Software Copyright Information
>
> The IRAF plot package includes four tasks (contour, surface, hafton,
> velvect) which call subroutines from the NCARGRAPHICS GKS-compatible
> graphics software
> package, version 1.0. The source for the NCARGRAPHICS software package
> has been modified for use within IRAF and is included on our source
> distribution tapes. Under new guidelines from the NSF, the NCARGRAPHICS
> software
> package is not in the public domain. We have been granted permission
> by UCAR to redistribute the NCARGRAPHICS software by agreeing to
> inform our users of the following terms and conditions.
>
> "Under new guidelines from the National Science Foundation, this NCAR
> software package is copyrighted and, therefore, not in the public domain.
> Distribution by NCAR does not include the right of the recipient or user
> to redistribute this software or to copy this software, except for one
Non-distributable.
> copy for archival purposes only. Distribution is permitted only under
> agreement with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
> (UCAR). Requests for redistribution and/or copying of the software
> must be submitted in writing to: NCAR Contracts Office, Software
> Distribution, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307. We request that NCAR
> be acknowledged as the source of software used in any resulting
> research, publications, or sub-distributions. UCAR does not indemnify any
> infringement of copyright, patent or trademark through use or
> modification of this software."
>
> Seems to me like I should write to UCAR, no?
Yes. You'll need them to offer the thing under a free software license to
put it in 'main'; you'll need a new license (which permits unlimited
redistribution) even to put it in non-free.
> Also, what defines who is
> acting on behalf of the goverment.
If you have to ask, you aren't and neither is Debian. Probably. :-)
So you should contact stsci.edu to get a clear redistribution/modification
license on TABLES.
--
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
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