Re: Checking GSL for Spectroscopy

[Fritz Sonnichsen]

Thanks Jeremy-
   I believe I understand the terms of the GPL. My reference to "academics"
simply points to the fact that in most academic cases software is made
publicly available--much like publishing an article. Not generally so in
the business environment. Of course times have changed a lot here in the US
recently and it appears that IP, "Proprietary", Patents, and a lot of other
legal issues have arrived at the academic scene so it is becoming less
apparent what we are allowed to share with colleagues. I experience this in
my own work.
   I mainly do consulting for a some small businesses that are "quasi
academic" now. I say this with no formal use of that term but simply stated
they are largely funded by government organizations here in the US as
""startups" , often from a university--and the line between "academic" and
"proprietary" can be quite diffuse-largely based on what is patented. I
typically have to pass the torch to the progenitor or lawyers for those
cases as they are well outside the sphere of physics for me.

Thanks
Fritz



On Tue, Mar 16, 2021 at 4:52 PM Jeremy Theler <jeremy@seamplex.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 2021-03-16 at 14:34 -0400, Fritz Sonnichsen wrote:
> > Thanks Jeremy-
> >    I looked into this (the GNU doc on this is LONG!) but it is my
> > understanding that the GNU GPL can be used for commercial purposes.
>
> Yes, as long as any piece of software using GSL is distributed also
> under the terms of the GPL.
> Please note that even though you can sell copies of a GPL-covered
> program, you cannot prevent people that already bought one copy to
> distribute it, with or without a fee.
>
> > It is not as clear if the resulting code must be made publically
> > available but this would not be a problem since our work is closely
> > associated with academics. Does this sound right to you?
>
> I am not sure I understood. If you want to make your software publicly
> available then it has to be under the terms of the GPL, which means
> that any user can request a copy of its source code. Not sure what
> academics has to do in your particular case. Maybe if you give more
> details about your ideas on how you want to distribute the software
> that will be linked to the GSL other members of the list can also help
> you figure everything out.
>
>
> Regards
> --
> jeremy theler
> www.seamplex.com
>
>
>