iraf.net

Hi
I noted that the information about copyright in your FAQ pages (https://iraf.net/faqman/index.php?op=view&t=58) is incomplete:
You have only reproduced parcially the copyrights note and the second part of copyright show evidently that iraf is free but depends on essencial non free software that only NOAO can distribuite.I copy in the end a mail sent to the Debian list, Debian developers would include iraf in Debian but they can't due to this copyright. Please correct the information!! Is possible that somebody in NOAO try to find out the solution of this copyright problems? I think this is a very important cuestion to easly distribuite and integrate IRAF with linux distributions, systems, university and can save many time to all the comunity. (and reduce the upload form NOAO server)Bye MaurizioQuoting from http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2004/05/msg00360.html[quote:d719ef2838]
Justin Pryzby wrote:> Greetings,
>
> I'm near completion of a Debian package of IRAF, previously packaged by
> Zed Paubre, who has agreed to sponsor me. I believe this new release
> has new license issues.
>
> Here's the deal. IRAF depends on TABLES
Really? :-P Ow. Oh, wait, I think I see..."IRAF core" does not depend on anything.
"TABLES" depends on "IRAF core".
"NOAO" depends on "TABLES".But "NOAO" and "IRAF core" are distributed in the same upstream.Would it be feasible to break the linkage by splitting up the packages in
some manner? I think it would be worth it if it was possible> (distributed separately, but
> TABLES depends on IRAF, so I'm preparing a new tarball to be the Debian
> .orig. There are other reasons, too.)
>
> TABLES has the following license:
> This software was prepared by Space Telescope Science Institute under
> U.S. Government contract NAS5-26555. Users shall not, without prior
> written permission of the U.S. Government, establish a claim to
> statutory copyright. The Government and others acting on its behalf,
> shall have a royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide
> license for Government purposes to publish, distribute, translate,
> copy, exhibit, and perform such material.Riiight. Well, that doesn't actually give a license to redistribute. At
all.It appears that it was not actually created by the US Government. (If it
was, it would be in the public domain.) Try to find out the copyright
status (it could be in the public domain, it could be held by Space
Telescope Science Institute, it could be held by the US Government, or
other possibilities). The Space Telescope Science Institute should know!
Whichever it is, they should be able to get you a more generous license. I
hope. I think so, anyway.> And IRAF has:
> Copyright(c) 1986 Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
> Inc.
>
> The IRAF software is publicly available, but is NOT in the public domain.
> The difference is that copyrights granting rights for unrestricted use and
> redistribution have been placed on all of the software to identify its
> authors. You are allowed and encouraged to take this software and use it
> as you wish, subject to the restrictions outlined below.
>
> Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its
> documentation is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above
> copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice
> and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that
> references to the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
> Inc. (AURA), the National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO), or the
> Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF) not be used in advertising or
> publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific,
> written prior
> permission from NOAO. NOAO makes no representations about the suitability
> of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express
> or implied warranty.
>
> NOAO DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL
> IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL NOAO
> 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.Right, that is free.
> NCARGRAPHICS Software Copyright Information
>
> The IRAF plot package includes four tasks (contour, surface, hafton,
> velvect) which call subroutines from the NCARGRAPHICS GKS-compatible
> graphics software
> package, version 1.0. The source for the NCARGRAPHICS software package
> has been modified for use within IRAF and is included on our source
> distribution tapes. Under new guidelines from the NSF, the NCARGRAPHICS
> software
> package is not in the public domain. We have been granted permission
> by UCAR to redistribute the NCARGRAPHICS software by agreeing to
> inform our users of the following terms and conditions.
>
> "Under new guidelines from the National Science Foundation, this NCAR
> software package is copyrighted and, therefore, not in the public domain.
> Distribution by NCAR does not include the right of the recipient or user
> to redistribute this software or to copy this software, except for oneNon-distributable.> copy for archival purposes only. Distribution is permitted only under
> agreement with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
> (UCAR). Requests for redistribution and/or copying of the software
> must be submitted in writing to: NCAR Contracts Office, Software
> Distribution, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307. We request that NCAR
> be acknowledged as the source of software used in any resulting
> research, publications, or sub-distributions. UCAR does not indemnify any
> infringement of copyright, patent or trademark through use or
> modification of this software."
>
> Seems to me like I should write to UCAR, no?
Yes. You'll need them to offer the thing under a free software license to
put it in 'main'; you'll need a new license (which permits unlimited
redistribution) even to put it in non-free.> Also, what defines who is
> acting on behalf of the goverment.
If you have to ask, you aren't and neither is Debian. Probably. :-)So you should contact stsci.edu to get a clear redistribution/modification
license on TABLES.
[/quote:d719ef2838]

In a matter of hours NOAO will no longer answer email about IRAF, I
doubt there would be much interest in "correcting" a copyright. NOAO
still retains all of its original rights and so that puts iraf.net users right
where Debian has been for a while -- if they want to avoid the NCAR
police they'll need to rewrite CONTOUR and a few other tasks, not to
mention come up with a YACC engine so another dozen or so tasks
continue to work. Or, just live with it. We'll be glad to help if somebody
wants to try this but I see it more as a Debian issue than an IRAF one.Debian is the only one who's ever had problems with the copyright,
while they may be technically correct about the issues it hasn't stopped
ESO and a half dozen others from redistributing IRAF independently
over the years. Given a prioritized list I wouldn't rank this highly if
the only benefit is that a single linux distro can re-wrap it according to
their rules.-Mike

Hi, thanks for very fast replay.Maybe you're right, but i don't think that this question is so easy that we can only ingore the problem, the problem will be there till someone will solve it and now that NOAO are not interested in the proyect i think is good moment to start with this trouble.
I did't know that iraf proyect was so in troubles and that NOAO is no longer interested on it. (i discovered this today)
Really till NOAO is behind this proyect and other big institution like ESA interested to redistribuite, will be no problems.
But an indipendent comunity group is at risk if want to work on the proyect and use this license.
I see that this domain is registred by a private and so this person is only responsable for the contents, being "technically correct" you are not allowed to redistribuite the entere software, so really if you are interested in continue working on the proyect you can only redistribuite patchs to the original noao version. If you are going to redistribuite the software maybe some day NCAR demand you for your illegal redistribution... very improbable? Well i will not take the risk!
Well, at the and, good luck with the proyect. ByeMaurizioP.S. Anyway, the information if FAQ is incorrect and if people are going to download from this site NCAR code the copyright note have to be the right one!