DReichLab / DReichLab/EIG

License conflict?

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Dominant language
C
Stars
207
Forks
61
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

It looks like the EIGENSOFT tools are meant to be linked with the GNU Scientific Library (GSL). The GSL is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License. According to the license terms, an application linking with the GSL should itself also be released under the GPL, yet according to the README it looks like EIGENSOFT is released under a license that prohibits commercial use, which makes it non-free software:

SOFTWARE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AGREEMENT
This software and its documentation are copyright (2010) by Harvard University 
and The Broad Institute. All rights are reserved. This software is supplied 
without any warranty or guaranteed support whatsoever. Neither Harvard 
University nor The Broad Institute can be responsible for its use, misuse, or 
functionality. The software may be freely copied for non-commercial purposes, 
provided this copyright notice is retained.

Could you please revise the license terms for EIGENSOFT or clarify the situation?

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Review the README's licensing language and the SOFTWARE COPYRIGHT NOTICE quoted in the issue, then verify how the EIGENSOFT tools relate to the GNU Scientific Library's license. Done means the project's license terms are clarified or revised to address the stated GPL and non-commercial-use conflict.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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