[AstroPy] POLL: vision for a common Astronomy package

[Perry Greenfield]

Here is the current IRAF statement with regard to that:
(http://iraf.noao.edu/faq/FAQsec01.html#1008)

Is IRAF public domain software?
Although IRAF is available free of charge over the network to anyone  
who may find it useful it is not considered public domain software  
since it is copyrighted. Here is part of the copyright notice that  
appears in the distributed system.
-----------------
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.
******

So no, there is no similar requirement for IRAF that you must  
acknowledge its use.

Perry

On Jul 6, 2011, at 12:35 PM, Prasanth wrote:

> Hello,
>
>
> I draw your attention to paragraph 4 of http://www.iausofa.org/tandc.html 
>  :
>
> 4. In any published work or commercial products which includes  
> results achieved by using the SOFA software, you shall acknowledge  
> that the SOFA software was used in obtaining those results.
>
>
> Isn't this similar to the conditions for using software such as IRAF  
> and data sources such as 2MASS? I am not saying that SOFA should  
> become part of astropy and this is not an assertion but is a  
> question. Perhaps, in the former cases users are not required to do  
> this?
>
> Prasanth
>
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