licenses

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Sat, 9 Jan 2016 06:41 am, Martinez, Jorge Alberto (GE Aviation) wrote:

> Hello
> We develop applications here with Python and I want to know if there's
> issues by using. We use NumPy, PyDaqMx, Py Visa
> 
> How can we cover this licensing?


What do you do with those applications? Do you use them in-house, for
customers, or for sale?

Do you distribute NumPy, PyDaqMx and PyVisa? If you do, then you have to
abide by the terms of their licences. Have you read their licences? If not,
you need to read them.

Then you need to talk to your company's lawyer and get their advice.

*** I AM NOT A LAWYER AND THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE ***

Seriously, talk to your lawyer. She or he is the only person who can SAFELY
and ACCURATELY advise you.

But, I would expect that you *probably* can legally distribute Numpy, since
there are other companies which already do this. Numpy is distributed under
the BSD licence, which is very liberal, and is compatible with most
software licences (either free, copyleft, or proprietary/closed). It allows
re-use with very few restrictions, so you shouldn't have any trouble
obeying their terms in your own software.

http://www.numpy.org/license.html

The licence is in English, but it is very simple, less than one page. If you
include Numpy in your software, all you need to do is include a copy of the
Numpy licence. Read the licence for details.

I do not know about PyDaqMx and PyVisa, but my recommendation is the same:

- start by reading their licences;
- if they use a well-known Open Source licence, such as BSD, MIT or GPL, 
  you must obey the terms of the licence;

- If they use a rare or unknown open source licence, you probably should
  not trust that the licence gives you enough protection. You should 
  contact the project owner and ask him or her to give you a licence to 
  the work using an approved open source licence:

  http://opensource.org/licenses/

- If they use a proprietary, closed-source licence, you probably will 
  not be allowed to distribute their software, or you may have to pay
  them money. You still have to obey the licence.

- But if there are special conditions that apply to you, it doesn't 
  hurt for you to ask for a special licence. The worst that will happen
  is that they will ignore you, or say no.


And finally:

- Check with your lawyer.




-- 
Steven