[GRASS5] LZW in Grass

[Luca Palmeri]

Morten Hulden wrote:

> Hi All
>
> Are there any plans to replace the lzw compression algorithm in Grass with
> something that is not patented?
>
> Since Grass is a free software product, users publishing maps and graphics
> and announcing they were made in Grass may risk to receive a $5000 bill
> from Unisys, who owns the patent to LZW. Or am I just paranoid ...
>
> Morten Hulden

I do not think you are paranoid. The problem is at least real. Just in case
on http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html there is a deep discussion on
this topic and pointers to alternative free compression algorithms.
But I also think that due to its diffusion it will be difficult to get rid of
LZW.
Should think about that.

Luca




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--> Luca Palmeri - Dip. Proc. Chimici dell'Ingengeria
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