Re: fig2dev (fig -> gif)
> If you look at the source code you will find there is support for reading
> gifs, but none for generating them. gif is a proprietry non-free format. You
> have to pay a license fee if you want to distribute applications which
> generate gifs. You can however distribute code which reads gifs for free.
>
> The alternatives are to use png or jpeg formats.
>
> I can't remember all the details, but all of this is due to some rather famous
> legal moves initiated a few years ago by a large US corporation. The PNG
> format was developed as a direct response. By not using gifs you are
> indirectly promoting the use of open standards/protocols/formats.
>
> Some others may have a clearer recollection of the details.
The point is not in the gif format itself, but in the compression
algorithm used in gif. Some company (Unisys?) claims a patent on that
algorithm, but not on the decompression algorithm, which is why the
reading of gifs is free.
Software patents stink.
HTH,
Eric
--
E.L. Meijer (tgakem@chem.tue.nl) | tel. office +31 40 2472189
Eindhoven Univ. of Technology | tel. lab. +31 40 2475032
Lab. for Catalysis and Inorg. Chem. (TAK) | tel. fax +31 40 2455054
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