[License-review] Los Alamos National Labs BSD-3 Variant License Approval

Sat Sep 14 02:03:12 UTC 2024

All,

Below is the recommendation of the License Committee that the Los Alamos 
National Labs BSD-3 Variant License be approved as an Open Source 
Initiative Certified license. The Board will vote on the license at the 
next Board meeting, scheduled for September 20.

Please respond to this email if you have any comments or questions.

Pamela Chestek
Chair, License Committee
Open Source Initiative

==========

License: Los Alamos National Labs BSD-3 Variant License (Exhibit A)
Submitted: June 26, 2024, 
https://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-review_lists.opensource.org/2024-June/005490.html
Decision date: due no later than the first Board meeting after August 
26, 2024

License Review Committee Recommendation:

/Resolved that it is the opinion of the OSI that the Los Alamos National 
Labs BSD-3 Variant License be approved as an Open Source Initiative 
Certified license in the Non-Reusable category of licenses.
/
_Rationale Document_

Notes: This is a legacy license, already in use for a number of projects 
created under the auspices of the Los Alamos National Lab. It is a 
standard BSD-3 license with an additional disclaimer that imposes only a 
restriction that changes to the software must be marked, which is 
commonly found in open source licenses. There was only one substantive 
comment on the license, which was that it should be approved.

_Exhibit A_

Copyright (c) XXXX, Los Alamos National Security, LLC
All rights reserved.
Copyright XXXX. Los Alamos National Security, LLC. This software was 
produced under U.S. Government contract DE-AC52-06NA25396 for Los Alamos 
National Laboratory (LANL), which is operated by Los Alamos National 
Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. Government has 
rights to use, reproduce, and distribute this software.  NEITHER THE 
GOVERNMENT NOR LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL SECURITY, LLC MAKES ANY WARRANTY, 
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, OR ASSUMES ANY LIABILITY FOR THE USE OF THIS 
SOFTWARE.  If software is modified to produce derivative works, such 
modified software should be clearly marked, so as not to confuse it with 
the version available from LANL.

Additionally, redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or 
without modification, are permitted provided that the following 
conditions are met:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright 
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright 
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the 
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
3. Neither the name of Los Alamos National Security, LLC, Los Alamos 
National Laboratory, LANL, the U.S. Government, nor the names of its 
contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from 
this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL SECURITY, LLC AND 
CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, 
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND 
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL LOS 
ALAMOS NATIONAL SECURITY, LLC OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, 
INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES 
(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR 
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) 
HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, 
STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN 
ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE 
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

On 6/26/2024 8:50 AM, Pettinger, Adam L via License-review wrote:
> Hello,
>
> We are trying to get a package 
> (https://github.com/UTNuclearRoboticsPublic/netft_utils 
> <https://github.com/UTNuclearRoboticsPublic/netft_utils>) distributed, 
> and there is a small ambiguity in the licensing situation, see here 
> (https://github.com/ros/rosdistro/pull/41583 
> <https://github.com/ros/rosdistro/pull/41583>) for discussion.
>
> We determined that the best way forward is to get the license for the 
> project approved by the OSI. See the attached file for the license 
> text, but it is basically a Los Alamos National Lab (LANL) flavored 
> BSD-3, and would be similar to 
> (https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause-lbnl 
> <https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause-lbnl>).
>
> I believe the legacy license path makes the most sense for this, 
> although that depends on how "unrelated" the entities must be. Here is 
> a list of projects using the license 
> (https://www.lanl.gov/software/open-source-software.php 
> <https://www.lanl.gov/software/open-source-software.php>), and they 
> are only related in that
>
> 1.
>     The authors have some affiliation with LANL and
> 2.
>     The Feynman Center at LANL has approved them for open source release.
>
> The reason I think legacy makes sense is that the license is already 
> used many places, and the ability to change the wording in it at this 
> point is questionable.
>
> I will follow the legacy submission going forward, but please let me 
> know if you think I should update and switch to the new license 
> requirements. Per the guidelines on the website:
>
>  *
>     The license text is attached
>  *
>     It complies with the Open Source Definition, including clauses 3,
>     5, 6, and 9
>  *
>     Here is a list of projects using the license:
>     (https://www.lanl.gov/software/open-source-software.php
>     <https://www.lanl.gov/software/open-source-software.php>)
>  *
>     The lisence steward would be the Intellectual Property Team at the
>     Richard P. Feynman Center for Innovation at LANL. Phone: (505)
>     665-9090. Email: software at lanl.gov
>  *
>     Unknown other approvals or information
>  *
>     Following (https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause-lbnl), I
>     propose the name: Los Alamos National Lab BSD Variant License and
>     identifier BSD-3-Clause-LANL
>  *
>     No other existing IDs
>
> If it must be considered a new license, additional information would be:
>
>  *
>     Gap to be filled: ability to release projects approved by LANL and
>     using their license
>  *
>     The most similiar
>     (https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause-lbnl), and really is
>     quite close. Mostly just substituting LBNL naming with LANL naming
>  *
>     Not sure what review the license has been through
>
>
> Please let me know if you have any questions, thanks!
>
> *Adam Pettinger*
>
> Senior Research Engineer
>
> adam.pettinger at tamu.edu <mailto:adam.pettinger at tamu.edu>
>
> *TEXAS A&M ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION DESIGN LAB*
>
> https://rad.engr.tamu.edu/ <https://rad.engr.tamu.edu/>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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