[OSGeo-Standards] Please review: Open Letter asking to avoid format fragmentation in LiDAR standards

[Even Rouault]

Le samedi 11 avril 2015 12:18:39, Sebastiaan Couwenberg a écrit :
> On 04/11/2015 09:24 AM, Cameron Shorter wrote:
> > I forgot to share URL:
> > http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/LIDAR_Format_Letter
> 
> Are you aware of the legal issue in LASzip which likely contributed to
> ESRI developing their own alternative?
> 
> LASzip contains code from the FastAC algorithm which allows distribution
> but not modification.
> 
> The FastAC license is therefor incompatible with the LGPL-2.1+ license
> used for LASzip which guarantees the right to modification.

I believed the LGPL only guarantees the right to modification to the source 
code that is licenced under LGPL, or am I wrong ? LGPL can (and does) put 
constraints on code that uses it, but why/how could it put constraints on code 
it uses ? 

Similar situation: I can write GPL/LGPL code that works on Windows and links 
against Windows system libraries, which don't give right to modification, but 
it doesn't invalidate the fact that I chose GPL/LGPL license for my code and 
doesn't prevent anyone using it under their terms.

For Debian, I can understand that it doesn't want to distribute code licensed 
with free license that uses code with a not-free license. But from the point 
of view of a proprietary software editor, if you don't need to make any 
modification to the FastAC code, what's the issue ?

> 
> I've been in contact with the LASzip & FastAC authors, but the latter
> while willing have not relicensed the code.
> 
> Please help resolve the LASzip issue, so that this is no longer a
> barrier to use. The FastAC licensing currently prevents LASzip to be
> included in Debian and I assume the ERSI legal department raised similar
> concerns to its use.
> 
> Kind Regards,
> 
> Bas

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