From Fedora Project Wiki
Records from the Fedora Core License Audit
Only changes are some minor email obfuscation and the removal of phone numbers.
Netpbm
Netpbm and friends are a huge mess of mixed code, some without
attribution. Starting with the excellent copyright analysis done by
Debian, found here:
http://packages.debian.org/changelogs/pool/main/n/netpbm-free/netpbm-free_10.0-8sarge3/netpbm.copyright
In addition, the LZW patent has expired, so ppmtogif is ok. Fedora
Core's netpbm-progs package doesn't have jbigtopnm or pnmtojbig
(later removed from the SRPM). The badly licensed hpcdtoppm
isn't in the Fedora package in either source or binary format.
This only leaves the bits that are listed in the Debian copyright as
"Unknown, So Not Distributed". So, lets try to resolve those:
pamchannel: Public Domain (OK)
pamtopnm: Public Domain (OK)
pbmtolps (netpbm)
Greg Roelofs helped me find the author of pbmtolps, George Phillips.
He chose LGPL for the license of this code.
From: George Phillips <georgep@backboneentertainment.com> To: Tom 'spot' Callaway <tcallawa@redhat.com> Subject: RE: pbmtolps license Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 11:51:57 -0700 (13:51 CDT) Hi, Tom. I've picked a license. Here's what I believe to be an official, authoritative and legally binding statement. To whom it may concern, I, George Phillips the sole author of pbmtolps, place the source code for pbmtolps under the GNU Lesser General Public License (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html). -- George -----Original Message----- From: Tom 'spot' Callaway [mailto:tcallawa@redhat.com] Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 3:16 PM To: George Phillips Subject: pbmtolps license George, Thanks for taking the time to clear this up. We just need you to let us know what license the pbmtolps code is under. Here is a list of licenses from the Free Software Foundation: http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/index_html#GPLCompatibleLicenses Start with the GPL Compatible Free Licenses, and move down (there are Non-Free Licenses at the bottom, if you choose one of those, it will not make it into Fedora). Some of the other pieces of code in the netpbm packages have been licensed under the GPL, BSD, and Artistic licenses. When you've picked one, email me back and let me know. We'll add the license to the code and include it with Fedora! Thanks again, ~tom -- Tom "spot" Callaway || Red Hat || Fedora || Aurora || GPG ID: 93054260 "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men -- not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular." -- Edward R. Murrow, March 9, 1954
spottopgm (netpbm)
Greg Roelofs tracked down the author of spottopgm, Warren Toomey.
This code is GPLv2.
From: Greg Roelofs <newt [at] pobox.com> Reply-To: Greg Roelofs <newt [at] pobox.com> To: wkt [at] tuhs.org Cc: tcallawa [at] redhat.com Subject: Re: ping (spottopgm license, Fedora) Date: Sat, 2 Sep 2006 16:46:13 -0700 (18:46 CDT) Hi, Warren, > On Tue, Aug 29, 2006 at 07:45:30PM -0700, Greg Roelofs wrote: > > Just a quick ping to see if this e-mail address works. Per Fedora bug > > https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=202519, your spottopgm > > utility has been removed from the FC version of netpbm, solely due to an > > inability to contact you. I'm guessing this address bounces... > Hi Greg. I replied to _someone_ asking if I was the author of spottopgm > about 2 months ago. I replied saying yes and GPL2 was fine for a license. > Hope this helps, > Warren Very much so, thanks! I'll forward this on to Tom 'spot' Callaway, who's the Red Hat guy (or one of them) taking the lead on this stuff. I appreciate the response! Kind regards, -- Greg Roelofs newt [at] pobox.com http://pobox.com/~newt/ Newtware, PNG Group, AlphaWorld Map, Yahoo! Search, ...
pbmto4425 (netpbm)
Contacted author, this code is GPL.
First email:
From: Robert Perlberg <perl [at] ascentmedia.com> To: Tom 'spot' Callaway <tcallawa [at] redhat.com> Subject: Re: Trying to find Robert Perlberg, copyright holder for Pbmto4425 Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2006 13:42:13 -0400 (12:42 CDT) I am indeed the Robert Perlberg who wrote pbmto4425. I'm amazed that anyone still cares about that program. *I* don't even use it any more. :-) I'm not sure what you're looking for in the way of licensing info. It's just something I posted to net.sources a long time ago. So, yes, it is freeware, open source code. That is, until people stop using high resolution color graphics displays and go back to using ASCII terminals, then I'll really clean up, baby! :-) Thank for your interest. On Sun, 30 Jul 2006, Tom 'spot' Callaway wrote: > Hello, > > I'm trying to find the Robert Perlberg who holds the Copyright for > pbmto4425, a utility included with netpbm, but for which the licensing > is unknown. > > If you are that Robert Perlberg, please let me know what the licensing > should be for that code. We're auditing Fedora Core's licensing to > ensure that it contains only free and open sourced code. > > Thanks in advance, > > ~spot > -- > Tom "spot" Callaway: Red Hat Technical Team Lead || GPG ID: 93054260 > Fedora Extras Steering Committee Member (RPM Standards and Practices) > Aurora Linux Project Leader: http://auroralinux.org > Lemurs, llamas, and sparcs, oh my!
Second email:
From: Robert Perlberg <perl [at] ascentmedia.com> To: Tom 'spot' Callaway <tcallawa [at] redhat.com> Subject: Re: Trying to find Robert Perlberg, copyright holder for Pbmto4425 Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 11:03:32 -0400 (10:03 CDT) I was thinking more along the lines of pbmto4425 being covered by the GPL. I am aware that it has been a part of Linux since the first version of Linux I ever saw. My coworkers were quite impressed when I pointed it out. I was quite surprised when it was made part of netpbm. On Sun, 30 Jul 2006, Tom 'spot' Callaway wrote: > On Sun, 2006-07-30 at 13:42 -0400, Robert Perlberg wrote: > > I am indeed the Robert Perlberg who wrote pbmto4425. I'm amazed that > > anyone still cares about that program. *I* don't even use it any > > more. :-) > > > > I'm not sure what you're looking for in the way of licensing info. > > It's just something I posted to net.sources a long time ago. So, yes, > > it is freeware, open source code. That is, until people stop using > > high resolution color graphics displays and go back to using ASCII > > terminals, then I'll really clean up, baby! :-) > > You would likely be amused to know that pbmto4425 has shipped with > virtually every released version of Fedora Core and Red Hat Linux, as > part of the "netpbm-progs" package collection. > > With regards to licensing, the Free Software Foundation has a list of > compatible open source licenses here: > http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/index_html > > I suspect that you would consider this code Public Domain, but I'd like > to confirm that before I mark it as such. > > Thanks, > > ~spot > -- > Tom "spot" Callaway: Red Hat Technical Team Lead || GPG ID: 93054260 > Fedora Extras Steering Committee Member (RPM Standards and Practices) > Aurora Linux Project Leader: http://auroralinux.org > Lemurs, llamas, and sparcs, oh my!
pbmtoln03 (netpbm)
Contacted author, code is Perl Artistic.
From: Tim Cook <Tim.Cook [at] Sun.COM> To: Tom 'spot' Callaway <tcallawa [at] redhat.com> Subject: Re: Are you the Tim Cook that wrote pbmtoln03.c? Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 13:41:12 -0700 (15:41 CDT) Tom, Gee, that was a long time ago, but yes, I am the one. I think I would have been assuming that my contribution would have fallen under whatever license pbmplus was using at the time. If you can not find such an attribution, then I am happy for this module to be accessible under the Perl Artistic License (1997). Tom 'spot' Callaway wrote: > Tim, > > Are you the same Tim Cook that wrote pbmtoln03.c in 1993? I'm working > with Fedora Core to try and determine the licensing on everything that > we include, and this file has no licensing attribution. Can you help me > out? > > Thanks in advance, > > ~spot > -- Tim Cook Performance, Availability and Architecture Engineering <> Sun Microsystems Ph: +1 XXX XXX XXXX Ext: (70) XXXXX
pbmtopk, pktopbm and ppmtopjxl (netpbm)
Contacted author, code is MIT.
Email 1
From: Angus Duggan <angus [at] knackered.org> To: Tom 'spot' Callaway <tcallawa [at] redhat.com> Subject: Looking for the Angus Duggan who wrote pbmtopk Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2006 19:27:20 -0700 (21:27 CDT) Tom 'spot' Callaway writes: >Hello, are you the Angus Duggan who wrote pbmtopk? I'm working with >Fedora Core (a Linux distribution) to audit all of our code to ensure it >is free and open source licensed. pbmtopk does not have a license >attribution, and if you are the author, I'm hoping you can tell me what >license this code is under. > >Thanks in advance, Yes, that is me. I can't remember what license I originally put it under. I'm happy to put in under the same license as Jef Poskanzer used for the rest of PBM, if that helps. a.
Email 2
From: Tom 'spot' Callaway <tcallawa [at] redhat.com> To: Angus Duggan <angus [at] knackered.org> Subject: Re: Looking for the Angus Duggan who wrote pbmtopk Date: Wed, 02 Aug 2006 09:10:48 -0500 On Tue, 2006-08-01 at 19:27 -0700, Angus Duggan wrote: > Tom 'spot' Callaway writes: > >Hello, are you the Angus Duggan who wrote pbmtopk? I'm working with > >Fedora Core (a Linux distribution) to audit all of our code to ensure it > >is free and open source licensed. pbmtopk does not have a license > >attribution, and if you are the author, I'm hoping you can tell me what > >license this code is under. > > > >Thanks in advance, > > Yes, that is me. I can't remember what license I originally put it under. I'm > happy to put in under the same license as Jef Poskanzer used for the rest of > PBM, if that helps. That would be the MIT license: Copyright (C) 2006 by Angus Duggan. Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted,provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. This software is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. ==== Also, we're missing license attribution for pktopbm.c and ppmtopjxl.c, would you like to have these be MIT licensed as well? Thanks in advance, ~spot -- Tom "spot" Callaway: Red Hat Technical Team Lead || GPG ID: 93054260 Fedora Extras Steering Committee Member (RPM Standards and Practices) Aurora Linux Project Leader: http://auroralinux.org Lemurs, llamas, and sparcs, oh my!
Email 3
From: Angus Duggan <angus [at] knackered.org> To: Tom 'spot' Callaway <tcallawa [at] redhat.com> Subject: Re: Looking for the Angus Duggan who wrote pbmtopk Date: Wed, 02 Aug 2006 07:57:48 -0700 (09:57 CDT) Tom 'spot' Callaway wrote: > Also, we're missing license attribution for pktopbm.c and ppmtopjxl.c, > would you like to have these be MIT licensed as well? Yes. > Thanks in advance, No problem. a.