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License issues of "libcolt-java"



Hi all!

Andreas Tille wrote:
libcolt-java
------------
  * find author of hep.aida.* and clarify license
  * The issue is described in the following thread.
    https://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/debian-med-packaging/2014-June/027387.html
  * While this task does not require any technical skills it seems
    to be the hardest one considering how long we keep on failing
    to solve this.
  * I'll offer a $drink to the one who will solve this

The information seems a bit distributed, so I'm trying to create a summary - to make sure I know what the actual problem is: * Within libcolt-java, there is code in the packages hep.aida.*, which is licensed under LGPL with military use exception, which is considered non-free. * A derivate work of the old code from hep.aida.* can be found in "FreeHep" as "freehep-jaida", which is still being maintained and licensed under the pure LGPL. * Tim uploaded a patch to our SVN [1] that makes *parts* of the hep.aida.* code obsolete (the interfaces; not sure why exactly those file, maybe because they are easy to get rid of), but the file xdocs/license.xml states that the military exception applies to all files in hep.aida.*. * Andreas was able to make contact with Tony Johnson, one of the original authors. Apparently Tony stopped answering. [2] * Colt seems to be no longer maintained (last Release in 2004 [3], Download page broken) => very little hope for a Colt release that works with FreeHep.

Apparently there are 2 solutions on the table:
1. Getting the copyright owners to relicense under pure LGPL or any other free license. This seems difficult because most of the original authors cannot be contacted. Even if we made contact with one, it's doubtful that one author alone can do the relicensing. 2. Ripping out the hep.aida.* code from Colt - which Tim's patch started to do. A way to complete this might be to make Colt work with FreeHep [4].

My doubts are:
A. About the first solution: Doesn't the fact that there is a derivative work under pure LGPL show that the code actually *has* been relicensed at some point? You can't make that relicensing project-specific. Once the distribution under LGPL is allowed, it's allowed to everybody. However, the relicensing could possibly refer to a specific *version* of the code, am I right? Unfortunately, the version of the code imported into the FreeHep SVN (back in 2006) isn't *exactly* the same code as the one in Colt (although you do see the common ancestry). Not sure what that means for us. B. According to earlier comments Tim's patch isn't enough [5]. First of all because it only makes some files obsolete, but not all affected files. That part I understand. But the second argument is that "the files are still in there" (although obsolete). But once they are obsolete, this can be fixed easily by doing a repackaging of the upstream source, am I right?

I just tried to contact some original authors using mail addresses I found on the web, but the sources are ancient :-(. Let's see, if there is still somebody reading those mails. At least so far the mails haven't bounced.

I've also tried to contact the person that imported the JAIDA code into the FreeHep SVN. He should be in possession of the relicensing (otherwise he couldn't have done the import), maybe he can share it with us, to see if it is general enough to apply to our problem. If it is, this might be all we need...

Cheers,
Martin

[1] http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-med/trunk/packages/libcolt-java/trunk/debian/patches/build_without_aida_interface_defs.patch?view=markup&pathrev=16752 [2] https://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/debian-med-packaging/2014-February/025141.html
[3] http://dst.lbl.gov/ACSSoftware/colt/
[4] http://java.freehep.org/
[5] https://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/debian-med-packaging/2014-June/027387.html


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