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

[Mateusz Loskot]

On 11 April 2015 at 13:19, Even Rouault <even.rouault at spatialys.com> wrote:
> 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.

You can't contain code of those Windows libraries in GPL/LGPL-ed library.

Sebastiaan wrote "LASzip contains code from the FastAC", so the issue
is still valid, isn't it?

Best regards,
-- 
Mateusz  Loskot, http://mateusz.loskot.net