[Debian-pan-maintainers] Package: Debian PaN: McCode: licencing

[Roland Mas]

Hi everyone,

I've just noticed that the COPYING file of McCode has been changed to 
GPL3. Thanks for that, it should solve the licensing problem.

There are a few remaining problems though: many of the source files 
still refer to GPL2 (as can be found with 'grep -r "GNU General"' or 
'grep -r "General Public"' or 'grep -r "version 2 of the License"'). 
This leaves some ambiguity as to the real license of the files. I'd like 
to respectfully suggest that the source files be updated accordingly.

Thanks!

Roland.

Le 18/11/2021 à 20:05, Peter Kjær Willendrup via Debian-pan-maintainers 
a écrit :
> Hi all,
>
>
> Lots of good points, agreed all around:
>
> * We should ensure that normal use of our code generator(s) mcstas and mcxtrace does not imply that the generated code becomes covered by GPL. It should NOT be considered derived work.
>
> * If the above can be met under GPL-3 I also see no issue in swapping. (Which would mean that we can include ncrystal without any issue.) - Pending a relatively likely issue-free ESA ‘OK’ to switch.
>
> * I will talk to the nxs author and find a solution, either:
> 	- The nxs code and related component forms a “non-free” addition package of sorts
> 	- Or if he in fact himself considers it deprecated. He gave input to the ncrystal development which by now should be able to do everything nxs does and even supports the *.nxs datafiles.
>
>
> Best,
> Peter
>
>
>> On 18 Nov 2021, at 17.21, Erik Bergbäck Knudsen <erkn at fysik.dtu.dk> wrote:
>>
>> Hi there,
>> Thanks for the comments and thoughts. I'd like to mention one thing in relation to this.
>> There is an add-on package named AstroX, which is basically is a set of components that have to do with X-ray telescopes. At present this is published under GPLv2, as agreed with ESA. As for the case with nsx - we could simply allow (as it is right now) that package to be a separate add-on, but I would prefer to include it in the normal distro to promote cross-benefits.
>>
>> To summarize - if we want to move to GPLv3 - I would have to/like to clear this with ESA. This should not be a problem as they suggested v3 but accepted v2 on my request.
>>
>> I hope that made any sense...
>> cheers
>> Erik
>>
>> On 18/11/2021 16:59, FARHI Emmanuel wrote:
>>> Hi Roland,
>>> thanks for your comments about licencing in McCode. I'm writing through the pan-maintainers mailing list so that we keep track of our thoughts, as well as to theMcCode Danish team leaders.
>>> You raise a licencing issue regarding nxs and ncrystal.
>>> As a start, The choice of a GPL2 for McCode is mainly historical, but it also related to how McCode works. McCode (McStas + McXtrace) converts a text file into a valid C code, which is then compiled and executed for a beam-line simulation. The generated C file (flex+bison) can be considered as a derived work that some users have used as input for other projetcs. Then, the whole discission boils down into how to consider that generated C code, as part of a derived work, in terms of licence. Is a GPL2 -> GPL3 move viable in this respect ? If yes, then, as discussed today by phone, McCode could move to GPL3, or other suggestion.
>>> ncrystal: the lib is Apache 2, which is incompatible with the GPL2 adopted by McCode, but would be with a GPL3.
>>> nxs: <https://www.helmholtz-berlin.de/people/boin/nxs_en.html> <https://www.helmholtz-berlin.de/people/boin/nxs_en.html>
>>> Its licence is a pure HZB one, which prevents commercial use. It is stated as *not* in the public domain. As a definitive solution, we could exclude libnxs and its only usage elsewhere, mcstas-comps/contrib/Sample_nxs.comp. There are a few data files as well in mcstas-comps/data/*.nxs Then, there is no issue with the static compilation (that could anyway in principle be dynamic).
>>> Cheers, Emmanuel.
>>> -- 
>>> / ___|__/\_| |   | ____|_ _| |      FARHI Emmanuel
>>> \___ \\ | |   |  _|  | || |      Div Exp/Data Reduction and Analysis Team
>>>   ___) /_  _| |___| |___ | || |___   Tel : +33 (1) 69 35 96 04
>>> |____/  \/ |_____|_____|___|_____|  Saint-Aubin BP 48 - 91192 GIF/YVETTE CEDEX
>>> SYNCHROTRON  http://www.synchrotron-soleil.fr
>> -- 
>> Erik Bergbäck Knudsen, Research Engineer         | DTU | morituri
>> NEXMAP, DTU Fysik, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark  |<>-<>|    te
>> phone: (+45) 2132 6655                           |<>-<>| salutant