I am working in a research lab, and some of our softs are included in industrial projects throught cooperation between lab and industry. Because of the GPL license of it++ this cooperation will not be possible for some parts of our softs. I guess we are not the only ones in that situation... Do you concider releasing it++ under a L-GPL or a BSD-like licence ?
regards,
thomas
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Yes, you are right. We have got this question before. And so far we have not changed the license policy. The GPL license is OK for most purposes. It is only when software based on IT++ is included in commercial software that you would need another license. I guess that this is the case for you?
We don't mind others to use IT++ and indirectly making money on it from the research based on output from programs using IT++. It is rather likely that the researchers will help developing IT++ and hence we will also benefit (bug reports, feature requests, and new code). This is e.g. the case with the many researchers at Ericsson Inc. that uses the software. However, if IT++ would be part of a commercial software it is not likely that any of that development will ever be released into the public domain and hence we will not benefit from that software. Giving away something and not getting anything in return is not a good idea in general. Hence, it is not likely that we will release a LGPL or a BSD-like license.
We have considered making a commercial version of IT++ available. Would this kind of license be acceptable for you? It would of course mean that you would have to pay a license fee for the commercial version. If so, please let me know and I will consider the possiblity of releasing also a commercial version. It will not be simple since it would mean that all contributors have to agree or we have to remove parts of the code.
Best regards,
Tony
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Providing that I can get IT++ working with VS .NET 7.1 with intel MKL then I would also need a commercial license to integrate a matrix and function library (such as IT++) into the commercial software I am developing. Currently IT++ is most user friendly I have found, however we have had to rule it out due to this limitation.
Tom
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Further problems with releasing a commercial version is that FFTW is GPL and hence, the commercial version have to do without the FFTW algorithms. Since, these are the best known FFTs it is a pity, but it illustrates the problem of license choice. Using GPL makes sence since we then are allowed to include most packages that we would desire.
Would a limited (in functionality) commercial version be of interest?
/Tony
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Non-free licenses of FFTW can be purchased from MIT as stated on http://www.fftw.org:
"[...] Free software, released under the GNU General Public License (GPL, see FFTW license). (Non-free licenses may also be purchased from MIT, for users who do not want their programs protected by the GPL. Contact us for details.) [...]"
/Volker
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Hi
IT++ is released under GPL licence and there were some discussions to adopt LGPL. If adopted, probably this will remain the only option for a commercial version.
regards
Bogdam
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I am working in a research lab, and some of our softs are included in industrial projects throught cooperation between lab and industry. Because of the GPL license of it++ this cooperation will not be possible for some parts of our softs. I guess we are not the only ones in that situation... Do you concider releasing it++ under a L-GPL or a BSD-like licence ?
regards,
thomas
Dear Thomas,
Yes, you are right. We have got this question before. And so far we have not changed the license policy. The GPL license is OK for most purposes. It is only when software based on IT++ is included in commercial software that you would need another license. I guess that this is the case for you?
We don't mind others to use IT++ and indirectly making money on it from the research based on output from programs using IT++. It is rather likely that the researchers will help developing IT++ and hence we will also benefit (bug reports, feature requests, and new code). This is e.g. the case with the many researchers at Ericsson Inc. that uses the software. However, if IT++ would be part of a commercial software it is not likely that any of that development will ever be released into the public domain and hence we will not benefit from that software. Giving away something and not getting anything in return is not a good idea in general. Hence, it is not likely that we will release a LGPL or a BSD-like license.
We have considered making a commercial version of IT++ available. Would this kind of license be acceptable for you? It would of course mean that you would have to pay a license fee for the commercial version. If so, please let me know and I will consider the possiblity of releasing also a commercial version. It will not be simple since it would mean that all contributors have to agree or we have to remove parts of the code.
Best regards,
Tony
Providing that I can get IT++ working with VS .NET 7.1 with intel MKL then I would also need a commercial license to integrate a matrix and function library (such as IT++) into the commercial software I am developing. Currently IT++ is most user friendly I have found, however we have had to rule it out due to this limitation.
Tom
Hi again,
Further problems with releasing a commercial version is that FFTW is GPL and hence, the commercial version have to do without the FFTW algorithms. Since, these are the best known FFTs it is a pity, but it illustrates the problem of license choice. Using GPL makes sence since we then are allowed to include most packages that we would desire.
Would a limited (in functionality) commercial version be of interest?
/Tony
Non-free licenses of FFTW can be purchased from MIT as stated on http://www.fftw.org:
"[...] Free software, released under the GNU General Public License (GPL, see FFTW license). (Non-free licenses may also be purchased from MIT, for users who do not want their programs protected by the GPL. Contact us for details.) [...]"
/Volker
I am not sure that a limited commercial version is worthy...
Just for information, what would be the price of a limited commercial version of IT++ ?
Best regards,
Vincent
Hi
IT++ is released under GPL licence and there were some discussions to adopt LGPL. If adopted, probably this will remain the only option for a commercial version.
regards
Bogdam