This repository includes code from multiple sources, under different licenses including the top-level LICENSE. The authoritative licenses and conditions are in file-headers and notices in the individual sub-folders and files. All the licenses and notices must be reproduced any source or binary-only distribution. (i.e., typical BSD-style requirement):
Our preference is for permissive licenses allowing binary distribution, though possibly requiring attribution. This is motivated by several factors:
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This project is partially sponsored with government funding. For this reason it makes sense to make it a "public good" with very few restrictions.
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This project is partially sponsored by independent corporations. We would like them to be able to view and use the code without fear of legal entanglements.
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We believe that placing fewer restrictions on this code will help it be used more widely and have greater impact.
For these reasons, code generated specifically for this project is placed under a BSD-style license, as in the top-level LICENSE file.
We have attempted to minimize the incorporation of third party code that would place additional restrictions on how our code is used. We currently use some GPL code, though we continue to seek non-GPL alternatives. See below for more details.
All software in this repository is under some form of open source license. You are free to use and distribute the unmodified source code.
Most of the source licenses have some form of attribution clause requiring that any modifications leave the copyright and license information place, and that distributed binaries be accompanied with that copyright and license information.
We attempt to avoid GPL-style licenses requiring that derived works also be under GPL-style licenses.