Re: 1999 Swarm survey results: available online [extra bonus question!]

[M. Lang / S. Railsback]

Marcus:

I'd love to give you feedback on the licensing issue, but after several
attempts at reading the licenses I still don't feel like I have a clear
understanding of what they mean.

For those of us building models for clients, the key issues seem to be:

a. What's the difference between GPL and LGPL in whether I can charge
somebody for a copy of the executable code I write that uses Swarm? For
the source code?

b. What's the difference between GPL and LGPL in whether I have to give
a copy of my executable Swarm code to anybody that wants it? The source
code?

c. What's the difference between GPL and LGPL in how I can control what
somebody else does with code I wrote? 

I'd feel a lot smarter if somebody could clarify these issues.

Meanwhile from my perspective in the environmental business: 
(a) Clients that want to limit distribution of models seem rare but not
unheard of. In general, environmental models are only useful if they are
part of an open public decision-making process. But if an industry
research institute pays me to build a modeling system, they may not want
members of the industry that didn't pay their research dues to have easy
access to the modeling system.

(b) I already have a client that has expressed interest in developing
software, possibly Swarm-based, as a commercial product for sale.

Thanks for asking us for input, too.

Steve
-- 
address@hidden
Lang, Railsback & Assoc.
250 California Ave., Arcata CA 95521
707-822-0453; Fax 822-1868

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