XITE license

[Seth David Schoen]

Ole Kristian Aamot writes:

> I would like to use some C algoritms for image analysis - that are
> implemented in a software kit, that some claim is "free software",
> written by researchers employed by the Image Processing Laboratory, 
> at Department of Informatics, University of Oslo.
> 
> I'm an undergraduate at the Department of Matematics, and the co-
> developer of gPhoto, the GNU digital camera utility in GNOME CVS.
> 
> One of the CS researchers, Svein Bøe, claims that their license is
> "not the same as the GNU GPL".  (That should mean I can't use it?)
> 
> [ From ftp://ftp.ifi.uio.no/pub/blab/xite/COPYRIGHT ]
> ________________________________________________________________
> 
>         XITE
>         $Id: COPYRIGHT,v 1.3 1998/06/30 13:02:03 svein Exp $
>         Copyright 1990-1998, Blab, UiO
>         Image processing laboratory, Department of Informatics
>         University of Oslo
>         E-mail: blab at ifi.uio.no
> ________________________________________________________________
>   
>   Permission to use, copy, modify and distribute this software and its
>   documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, 
>   provided that this copyright notice appear in all copies and that 
>   both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting
>   documentation and that the name of Blab, Department of Informatics or
>   University of Oslo not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining 
>   to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission.
> 
>   BLAB DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL
>   IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL BLAB
>   BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
>   WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
>   OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN 
>   CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
> 
> EOF
> 
> I don't really understand why a research project should stop
> development of GNU software - if the proper credit is given?
> 
> I realize it is a BSD license - but I just want to know how
> it (in theory) could be changed to comform with the GNU GPL.
> 
> I have studied the sources, but I'm unable write an implementation
> myself without indirectly or partly using XITE sources & routines.

There is a license compatibility issue with a GPL project.  This is because
the GPL is a "viral" license, in that it "infects" software by requiring
redistributors (including those who make and distribute derived works) to
cause the distributed works to be licensed under the GPL.

The question of whether something is a _free software_ license is
different from the question of whether it is GPL-compatible.  You can't
merge most non-GPL code into a GPL project, because the GPL would then
require that you license the new code under the GPL -- which you're
not legally entitled to do unless you have the permission of the original
authors of the non-GPL code.

Since GNOME is developed under GNU licenses, it's presumably necessary
to have rights to distribute under the GPL _any_ code that's going to
become part of GNOME (otherwise it wouldn't be legal to distribute
GNOME itself that way).  The license above does not give you the right
to do that, so you would need to ask the original authors whether it
could be re-licensed under the GPL.

Does "and without fee" mean "any noncommercially" or "any without payment
of a royalty"?

-- 
                    Seth David Schoen <schoen at loyalty.org>
      They said look at the light we're giving you,  /  And the darkness
      that we're saving you from.   -- Dar Williams, "The Great Unknown"
  http://ishmael.geecs.org/~sigma/  (personal)  http://www.loyalty.org/  (CAF)