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

Sat Oct 5 22:09:50 UTC 2024

All,

At its Board meeting on September 20, 2024, the Board adopted the 
recommendation of the License Review Committee and /approved /the Los 
Alamos National Labs BSD-3 Variant License as an Open Source Initiative 
Certified License.

Pamela Chestek
Chair, License Committee
Open Source Initiative

On 9/13/2024 10:03 PM, Pamela Chestek wrote:
>
> 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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>>
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>
>
> _______________________________________________
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-- 
Pamela S. Chestek Chair, License Committee Open Source Initiative
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