[AstroPy] message from SOFA chair

Sergio Pascual sergio.pasra at gmail.com
Tue Jul 16 10:16:49 EDT 2013


That's good news, because it will allow, finally,  to include astropy in
linux distributions. And other projects will benefit by having a free SOFA
replacement.

I assume this is the github repo,

https://github.com/liberfa/erfa

correct?



2013/7/16 Perry Greenfield <stsci.perry at gmail.com>

> I'm sorry we didn't inform the general list, but on June 14, the SOFA
> board did approve the relicensing of SOFA in the form of the ERFA library
> that has a 3 clause BSD license, and a different prefix (not iau_ for the
> routine names). It is this that will be distributed with astropy. This
> should permit the inclusion of ERFA with many standard distributions that
> would not allow the inclusion of SOFA.
>
> Perry
>
> On Jul 15, 2013, at 7:28 PM, Sergio Pascual wrote:
>
> > Hello, any progress with the SOFA library issue?
> >
> >
> > 2013/6/14 Perry Greenfield <stsci.perry at gmail.com>
> > Yes, as a matter of fact, today we got explicit permission from the
> Board to relicense SOFA. That will require us to release it under a
> different name, and using a different prefix for the routine names. You
> should be hearing about it soon. But they will not be changing their
> license.
> >
> > Perry
> >
> > On Jun 14, 2013, at 12:06 PM, Sergio Pascual wrote:
> >
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > is there any progress in this topic? I have checked today and the
> license text in the SOFA webpage remains the same.
> > >
> > > Sergio
> > >
> > >
> > > 2013/5/7 Thomas Robitaille <thomas.robitaille at gmail.com>
> > > 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
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > AstroPy mailing list
> > > > AstroPy at scipy.org
> > > > http://mail.scipy.org/mailman/listinfo/astropy
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > AstroPy mailing list
> > > > AstroPy at scipy.org
> > > > http://mail.scipy.org/mailman/listinfo/astropy
> > > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > AstroPy mailing list
> > > AstroPy at scipy.org
> > > http://mail.scipy.org/mailman/listinfo/astropy
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > AstroPy mailing list
> > > AstroPy at scipy.org
> > > http://mail.scipy.org/mailman/listinfo/astropy
> >
> >
>
>
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