From: Noel O'B. <no...@ca...> - 2006-07-12 10:56:23
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Hello Adam, I'm back from holidays. And I've fixed that final (for now) bug with the gaussian parser. Regarding the licensing; if we include GPL code in cclib, then cclib needs to become GPL (the opposite isn't true though; they can include cclib code in their GPL code so long as our license is GPL-compatible, which most licenses are). This is the relevant quote from Wikipedia: """ Many of the most common free software licenses, such as the original MIT/X license, the BSD license (in its current 3-clause form), and the LGPL, are "GPL-compatible". That is, their code can be combined with a GPLed program without conflict (the new combination would have the GPL applied to the whole). """ To be honest, I'm still leaning towards the Python license, which is what most Python software has anyway. This means we don't have to worry about any of this stuff, so long as we don't want to include any GPL-code in it. PyQuante uses a similar license, as does BioPython. If you still say LGPL (to ensure pymol has no problems) then we'll do that. It's just that I'm about to modify all of the license pages now, and want to sort this out before I start doing this. Regards, Noel |
From: Noel O'B. <no...@ca...> - 2006-07-13 08:22:57
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On Wed, 2006-07-12 at 12:50 -0700, Adam Tenderholt wrote: > > It's just that I'm about to modify all of the license pages now, and > > want to sort this out before I start doing this. > > I still think we should make cclib LGPL. Whether we use LGPL or the > Python license, we still won't be allowed to use GPL code unless we > relicense under GPL. And I figure we would never be adding GPL code > since we're basically writing everything from scratch (except stuff > we initially wrote under GPL and have since decided to release under > a different license). So I don't see any advantages using a Python > license has. > > My understanding of the requirements the LGPL would place on > derivative works is that it would have to be distributed as a library > under the LGPL and the modifications be available. At least this is > how it seems things are working between KHTML devs and Apple. Correct > me if I'm wrong... > > Finally, if you have specific issues with using the LGPL let me know. > I think both of us are relatively flexible, and just have preferences > based on pre-conceived ideas. If there is any solid reason not to use > one of the licenses (like we did with the GPL), then I think it > should be stated and that it only makes sense to use the other. A very good answer - I think you've summed the situation up exactly. The LGPL it is, then. I'm happy with this. And I know you are too. Today, I'll replace COPYING.txt or LICENSE.txt or whatever it's called. I'll also look into replacing the docstring at the start of every python file with something succinct as regards the license and copyright. I'm thinking something along the lines of: cclib, http://cclib.sf.net, (c) 2006, the cclib development team cclib is licensed under the LGPL (web ref) As I mentioned before, it would be useful to have some 'help' text here also - even something very basic. I don't think this is a priority before we release 0.5 final (since the web site gives quite reasonable help), but it's something to bear in mind. Regards, Noel |
From: Adam T. <a-t...@st...> - 2006-07-13 14:47:21
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> A very good answer - I think you've summed the situation up > exactly. The > LGPL it is, then. I'm happy with this. And I know you are too. > > Today, I'll replace COPYING.txt or LICENSE.txt or whatever it's > called. > I'll also look into replacing the docstring at the start of every > python > file with something succinct as regards the license and copyright. I'm > thinking something along the lines of: > cclib, http://cclib.sf.net, (c) 2006, the cclib development team > cclib is licensed under the LGPL (web ref) Excellent. :o) > > As I mentioned before, it would be useful to have some 'help' text > here > also - even something very basic. I don't think this is a priority > before we release 0.5 final (since the web site gives quite reasonable > help), but it's something to bear in mind. Is there anything you'd like me to focus on for the 0.5 final release? Adam |
From: Noel O'B. <no...@ca...> - 2006-07-13 14:56:12
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> Is there anything you'd like me to focus on for the 0.5 final release? I think it's just a case of getting it out there now. Let's declare a feature and bug freeze. If you have some spare time you might think about a way to make your equations look nicer on the wiki (I think there's a way to do this on the mediawiki help page somewhere in cyberspace). There's a TODO list somewhere on the wiki on the Developer's page. I'm not brave enough to look at it, but you may want to add to it, or better still, remove things from it :-) Noel |