[Qgis-developer] QGIS SZIP.DLL Licensing?

[Etienne Tourigny]

What is the problem with distributing the szip.dll ? There is no agreement
between qgis (or gdal) with szip/hdf group.

My understanding of the info in this page
http://www.hdfgroup.org/doc_resource/SZIP/ is:

- In no circumstances a user can create hdf5 files with szip encoding
within qgis. So far, only gtiff files are created within qgis.

- you are correct in stating that commercial products can use szip for
decoding only, so it is OK for qgis to distribute the szip library.

- as qgis is not a commercial product and does not allow to create
szip-encoded hdf5 files, there is no need for any commercial licence.

- if someone were to write software, based on qgis (and gdal), which sould
create an szip-encoded hdf5 file, that entity would require a commercial
licence

There is no GPL szip library, AFAIK.


On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 3:15 PM, Moriarty, Mark F
<mark.f.moriarty at lmco.com>wrote:

>  Does QGIS have any license agreement related to SZIP use?
>
>
>
> I'd like to use QGIS on a project, but we're stuck on whether/how the
> szip.dll is licensed for use.
>
>
>
> For example HDF specifically has a license page asserting permission to
> use szip in their distribution, so long as it is used within the context of
> their overall app.  For a commercial firm, the permission is just to
> decode, not to encode, but that is fine.
>
>
>
> I tried just deleting/renaming the szip.dll, since we do not actually need
> the functionality for our use, but it appears to be tightly bound to the
> build - qgis errors-out if it does not detect a proper, functioning,
> szip.dll on startup.
>
>
>
> If there isn't a license statement from the intellectual property owner
> allowing its use/distribution to decode with qgis, is it possible to
> include a user-controllable switch to allow not including it, or to perhaps
> include a true GPL zip package, albeit losing the lossless functionality?
>
>
>
> Thanks.
>
>
>
> Mark
>
>
>
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