[Molvis-list] RE: Molvis-list Digest, Vol 31, Issue 8

Warren DeLano warren at delsci.com
Tue May 29 13:34:14 EDT 2007


Herbert,

There are at least three Python license variants I am aware of, and at
least two from CNRI, so the concept "Python License" is pretty much
shot.  The variant upon which the PyMOL license is based is the Python
1.52 license (the *original* CNRI license), which is essentially
equivalent to BSD, but slightly less explicit.  Here is the text of the
permissions grant from the current PyMOL LICENSE file in the Subversion
repository:

Open-Source PyMOL Copyright Notice
==================================

The Open-Source PyMOL source code is copyrighted, but you can freely
use and copy it as long as you don't change or remove any of the
Copyright notices.  The Open-Source PyMOL product is made available
under the following open-source license terms:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Open-Source PyMOL is Copyright (C) 1998-2003 Warren L. DeLano and 
Copyright (C) 2003-2007 DeLano Scientific LLC, Palo Alto,
California, U.S.A., (www.delanoscientific.com).

                        All Rights Reserved

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and distribute modified
versions of this software and its built-in documentation for any
purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
copyright notice appears in all copies and that both the copyright
notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation,
and that the names of Warren L. DeLano or DeLano Scientific LLC not be
used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the
software without specific, written prior permission.

WARREN LYFORD DELANO AND DELANO SCIENTIFIC LLC DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES 
WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS.  IN NO EVENT SHALL WARREN LYFORD DELANO
OR DELANO SCIENTIFIC LLC 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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

---

For comparison, here is a copy of the "new" BSD license template from
open-source.org:

Copyright (c) <YEAR>, <OWNER>

All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
met:

Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. 
Neither the name of the <ORGANIZATION> nor the names of its contributors
may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
without specific prior written permission. 
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
OWNER OR
CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

---

And for historical comparison, here is the Python 1.5.2 license:

Copyright notice
================
 
The Python source is copyrighted, but you can freely use and copy it
as long as you don't change or remove the copyright notice:
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1991-1995 by Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam,
The Netherlands.
 
                        All Rights Reserved
 
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, and that the names of Stichting Mathematisch
Centrum or CWI or Corporation for National Research Initiatives or
CNRI not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to
distribution of the software without specific, written prior
permission.
 
While CWI is the initial source for this software, a modified version
is made available by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives
(CNRI) at the Internet address ftp://ftp.python.org.
 
STICHTING MATHEMATISCH CENTRUM AND CNRI DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES WITH
REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL STICHTING MATHEMATISCH
CENTRUM OR CNRI 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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

---

Unfortunately, SourceForge does not provide any way of distinguishing
between the old and new CNRI Python licenses in trove categorization.

The other complicating factor with PyMOL is that our precompiled builds
(only) are made available under different license terms (more
restrictive) than the open-source code (e.g. FREE builds for students,
PAID builds for companies, and so forth).  And for the record, these are
not redistributed from SourceForge.

Regardless, compiled builds others prepare can be released under
whatever terms they choose, provided that they remain compliant with the
PyMOL open-source license terms (which basically boil down to retaining
copyrights and credits).

Cheers,
Warren

----
Message: 2
Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 17:49:32 -0400
From: "Herbert J. Bernstein" <yaya at bernstein-plus-sons.com>
Subject: [Molvis-list] PyMol License
To: "Molecular Visualization,	especially in education with freeware"
	<molvis-list at bioinformatics.org>
Message-ID: <a06230900c280fc1699b8@[192.168.2.100]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

Dear Warren,

    Could you clarify the PyMol license conditions?  Your recent message
said "unrestricted BSD open source ...", but the sourceforge site says
"Python License (CNRI Python License)".  The actual LICENSE file
in the source kit certainly looks BSD-ish.  You may wish to update
the sourceforge license info to avoid confusion.


    Thanks.

    Regards,
      Herbert


At 11:43 AM -0700 5/28/07, Warren DeLano wrote:

...
>
>With respect to academic use, the source code is unrestricted BSD
>open-source.  This means that developers, scientists, and teachers can
>create and redistribute their own derivative works that rely upon or
>encapsulate PyMOL source code, without being encumbered by draconian
>GPL-like conditions, provided that the appropriate PyMOL copyright
>notices are preserved.
>





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