[AstroPy] message from SOFA chair

[Thomas Robitaille]

Just for information, we are currently working towards a solution
off-list with the SOFA board, and will inform the list once things
have been settled. So no need to propose a license text at this stage.

Tom

On 7 May 2013 17:15, Wolfgang Kerzendorf <wkerzendorf at gmail.com> wrote:
> I think what Mario and Tim are proposing is very good as it would alleviate
> the problems mentioned by Catherine. To speed up the process, we should
> propose a license text and they could then see if that meets their criteria
> (make it as hard as possible for them to delay or refuse).
>
> Cheers
>     Wolfgang
> On 2013-05-07, at 10:45 AM, Tim Jenness <tim.jenness at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> On Tue, May 7, 2013 at 3:34 AM, Scott Ransom <sransom at nrao.edu> wrote:
>>
>>
>> On the subject of the SOFA license conditions, our Board member Patrick
>> Wallace is continuing discussions he had on this topic last year, which
>> resulted in changes to the license that enabled the Debian release to
>> proceed.  Recent emails, which unfortunately were delayed by the spam
>> filter problems, show that further discussion is needed, and Patrick is
>> now in touch with Perry Greenfield, STScI Science Software Branch lead.
>> The nub of the problem is that SOFA software has to address two
>> conflicting requirements: (i) the insistence by free software groups
>> that users should not be constrained in any way and (ii) the need to
>> prevent "counterfeit" versions coming into circulation.  The second
>> point is vital because SOFA software represents IAU standards and indeed
>> is cited in other standards such as IERS Conventions.
>>
>>
>
> Regarding the counterfeit argument, isn't this very similar to encryption
> libraries where you want to make sure that you are using the official
> library and not one you found on the internet that happens to have a back
> door? OpenSSL and other libraries deal with this. People are far more
> concerned about using the proper OpenSSL than using SOFA but the underlying
> principal is the same. OpenSSL has a very straightforward licence
> (http://www.openssl.org/source/license.html) which has clearly been approved
> for distribution.
>
> --
> Tim Jenness
> CCAT Software Manager
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