[SAC] [OSGeo] #2268: Incubation request: PROJ

[OSGeo]

#2268: Incubation request: PROJ
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 Reporter:  kbevers    |       Owner:  jive
     Type:  task       |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal     |   Milestone:
Component:  Incubator  |  Resolution:
 Keywords:             |
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Comment (by Bas Couwenberg):

 Replying to [comment:1 kbevers]:
 > 13. Is the code free of patents, trademarks, and do you control the
 copyright?
 >
 >   Yes. Except for the EPSG registry which is included in the PROJ source
 distribution. The
 >   registry is available on a "free to use" basis as long as the original
 data is not modified.
 >   The terms of use are available here:
 http://www.epsg.org/TermsOfUse.aspx

 Not allowing modification makes it non-compliant with the
 [https://opensource.org/osd-annotated Open Source Definition] (OSD) and
 [https://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines Debian Free Software
 Guidelines] (DFSG) on which the OSD is based. This risks making the entire
 geospatial stack dependent on a non-free library.

 The [http://www.epsg.org/TermsOfUse.aspx EPSG TOU] requires that modified
 data is not attributed to the EPSG Dataset when the modifications fall
 outside of the permitted list:

 > vii. No data that has been modified other than as permitted in these
 Terms of Use shall be attributed to the EPSG Dataset.

 As long as the data is not attributed to the EPSG dataset, the terms of
 the MIT license used for PROJ can also cover the SQL files and resulting
 database.

 Both the OSD & DSFG permit only allowing modifications when a different
 name is used, to dissociate the original author from the modified work:

 > **4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code**
 >
 > The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified
 form **only** if the license allows the distribution of "''patch files''"
 with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build
 time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built
 from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry
 a different name or version number from the original software. (''This is
 a compromise. The Debian group encourages all authors not to restrict any
 files, source or binary, from being modified.'')

 This has allowed PROJ 6.0.0 to stay in the main component of the Debian
 archive.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/ticket/2268#comment:2>
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