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Re: gif license [message #27759 is a reply to message #27667]

Wed, 31 October 2001 21:22

Craig Markwardt
Messages: 1869
Registered: November 1996

Senior Member

Dennis Boccippio <djboccip@hotmail.com> writes:

> In article <slrn9u07p6.cht.nobody@pooh.nrel.gov>,
> nobody@nowhere.com (Steve Smith<steven_smith>) wrote:
>
>
>>
>> I am wondering the following: since IDL is an interpretive langauage, i.e. you
>> cannot make standalone programs, then any potential user of code you may give
>> out would have an IDL license, and presumably would not have the GIF/LZW
>> enabled if they had not contacted Unisys and secured a license. So where is
>> the problem? It would seem to me that your code would be useless to anyone
>> without this license, am I correct? So I don't see how distributing your code
>> is a problem (you are NOT distributing the ability to read/write GIF).
>
>
> Seems logical; the portions of the apps with GIF export functionality
> would be useless, although I'm not sure that would immunize us against
> some hypothetical Unisys action, given the language of the agreement.
> Actually, that raises a question - we haven't yet upgraded from 5.3
> (because of the GIF issue and legacy code). How does 5.4+ IDL handle
> READ_GIF/WRITE_GIF? Do they fail to compile? Or simply perform
> nothing unless activated?

The READ_GIF and WRITE_GIF procedures still actually work and compile.
However, there is a specific libgif DLM which won't function without
some kind of a license.

Questions of legality aside, from a practical standpoint, it has been
possible in the past for some platforms to simply copy the DLM from
the old version of IDL into the new version's directory, and it
worked. I have no idea if this works with IDL 5.5.

Craig

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Craig B. Markwardt, Ph.D. EMAIL: craigmnet@cow.physics.wisc.edu
Astrophysics, IDL, Finance, Derivatives | Remove "net" for better response
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[Message index]

		gif license By: Michael L. Kaiser on Mon, 29 October 2001 12:21
		Re: gif license By: Dennis Boccippio on Fri, 02 November 2001 07:18
		Re: gif license By: Dennis Boccippio on Fri, 02 November 2001 07:16
		Re: gif license By: Dennis Boccippio on Fri, 02 November 2001 07:26
		Re: gif license By: Craig Markwardt on Thu, 01 November 2001 21:35
		Re: gif license By: David Fanning on Thu, 01 November 2001 13:53
		Re: gif license By: nobody@nowhere.com (S on Thu, 01 November 2001 08:25
		Re: gif license By: Craig Markwardt on Wed, 31 October 2001 21:22
		Re: gif license By: Dennis Boccippio on Wed, 31 October 2001 18:46
		Re: gif license By: David Fanning on Wed, 31 October 2001 08:17
		Re: gif license By: nobody@nowhere.com (S on Wed, 31 October 2001 07:59

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