Re: archivers/szip license

[Greg Troxel <gdt%lexort.com@localhost>]

Jason Bacon <outpaddling%yahoo.com@localhost> writes:

[crossposting pruned]

> I think the license restrictions listed in Makefile are wrong:
>
> https://support.hdfgroup.org/doc_resource/SZIP/Commercial_szip.html
>
> I don't see anything to indicate that it cannot be redistributed in
> binary form, only that certain types of commercial use are not allowed
> without permission.

That's not how copyright works; failing to find a "restriction" does not
mean that copying is permitted.  One needs an affirmative license to
copy.  And binary packages are derived works, so one needs a license to
create and distribuute those.

The text only grants permission to "use", which is not a right reserved
to the copyright holder, so that should probably be construed as a
patent grant.

> Any objections to changing it so we can generate binary packages?

I don't think we have a license to do so.  You could write them and ask
them to clarify.   I would expect that in this case, the copyright has a
fairly high likelihood of being will to grant the license we need for
source and binary redistribution.