From: Max L. <max...@ve...> - 2007-01-24 13:51:21
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> I disagree with Max, that PTassembler is not a panotools derivative in > common terms (PTassembler would be useless without panotools) It isn't clear to me whether asking if product A (e.g. PTAssembler) is useless without product B (e.g. Pano Tools) is an appropriate way of determining if product A is a derivative of product B. If so, then I think one could argue that any Windows application (e.g. Microsoft Excel for Windows, or any other program that runs on Windows) is a derivative of Microsoft Windows. After all, what use is Microsoft Excel for Windows without the Windows OS? Even if one agrees that if one product is the "useless" without another is sufficient to establish it as a "derivative" work, I disagree that PTAssembler would be "useless" without Panotools, for two general reasons. First, PTAssembler can operate with any stitching engine that uses the correct syntax (none.exe, for example, and any other stitching programs that I or other developers may develop in the future), not just Pano Tools. Second, it performs a large number of useful functions completely unrelated to Pano Tools, a few of which are: 1. Determining the precise GPS coordinates of where an image was taken by cross referencing image EXIF data with GPS data files. 2. Computing the time of sunrise/sunset for the the time/location where the image was taken. 3. Converting between FOV and focal length with a focal length/FOV calculator. Hope this helps, Max |