[Gdal-dev] ECW build and licensing, forthcoming source distribution (was: ECW Problems?)

[Tom Lynch]

Hi Bill,

Thanks for reporting this problem, we're checking it out.  The ECW
JPEG 2000 SDK RC2 source code has actually been online for some time,
and should be slightly more pleasant out of the box than RC1.

We (ER Mapper) have been very aware of the ongoing issues with
building the SDK and are currently hunting for a silver bullet ... a
new release candidate is due out soon with a new build system allowing
all ECW and JPEG 2000 support (what was previously NCSEcw, NCSUtil and
NCScnet) to be combined in either one static, or one shared library
object (which we are referring to as libecwj2).

The new source code distribution will also ship with the standard
example code and makefiles for building with the new single library
structure, which should help people get to grips with the ECW JPEG
2000 SDK.  I have been mentioning it to people for a while now, but
for various reasons (mainly legacy code, the introduction of static
linkage and the need for cross-platform testing) it has not been made
available yet.

The old build system will continue in place for the time being as
well.  The goal is to turn building the library into a one-liner on
Win32 and common *NIX platforms including GNU/Linux, Solaris and Mac
OS X.

Also, yesterday it was confirmed to me that the "server software
restriction" (which theoretically prohibited OSS projects built on the
SDK from including server components) is being lifted from the Public
Use License Agreement, the SDK's copyleft-restricted license.  This
means it is now available under a license very nearly equivalent to
the GPL.

The SDK has two other licenses for Free Use (MIT-style with a
restriction on the maximum size of input datasets for ECW and JPEG
2000 compression ) and Commercial Use - these continue to include the
"server restriction" - for the time being - for commercial reasons.

Tom.

On 6/4/05, Bill Binko <bill at binko.net> wrote:
<snip>
> 
> Thanks! However, it looks like a nightmare to build!
> 
> I'll give it a shot
> Bill


-- 
Tom Lynch
Development, ER Mapper
Phone:      +61 8 93882900
Fax:        +61 8 93882901
Email:      tom.lynch at ermapper.com
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