[Fedora-legal-list] License of 2xSai family of image scaling algorithms (was: 2xSai has an unclear license ...)

Mon Oct 19 19:37:55 UTC 2009

Thanks for clearing that up:  it will prevent Fedora and Debian from
having to spend time manually patching ScummVM and other software to
remove 2xSai from them.  These distros are very strict and insist that
all parts of all software they ship be open-source.

I did more research and I see that Super 2xSai and Super Eagle are
also written by you.  I either didn't know this fact, or forgot it
when I emailed you.  Do you also hereby release all versions of them,
old and new, and any other scaling algorithms you've written (if any
others exist) under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or (at
the users' option) any later version?

On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 6:35 PM, Derek Liauw <derekl666 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> To whomever it may concern,
>
> Given the confusion (see mail history) on some license issue I wrote some time ago.
>
> I hereby release all versions of 2xSai, old and new, under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or (at your option) any later version.
>
> I did in fact give the ZSNES and probably some other projects permission a long time ago (don't remember exactly when, but probably when it was either first featured or it went from closed source -> GPL), but I guess it wasn't documented as such in the history.
>
> For future reference you probably can ping me.
>
> [d][e][r][e][k][.][l][i][a][u][w][@][g][m][a][i][l][.][c][o][m]
>
> Remove brackets...
>
> --- On Tue, 10/13/09, Jason A. Spiro <jasonspiro4 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Jason A. Spiro <jasonspiro4 at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: 2xSai has an unclear license and may be removed from a number of  programs in Fedora Linux
>> To: "Derek Liauw" <derekl666 at yahoo.com>, "Derek Liauw Kie Fa" <derek-liauw at usa.net>, "Robert J. Ohannessian" <voidstar at ifrance.com>
>> Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2009, 4:00 AM
>> Thanks for your reply Derek.
>>
>> 1.
>>
>> What's your new email address?
>>
> I don't check this e-mail often but it's still "in use". Now if yahoo had a forward feature I would use it, but alas...
>
>> 2.
>>
>> It would be very helpful if I could write to that email
>> address and CC
>> a public mailing list.  This might cause you to get
>> more email about
>> 2xSaI.  [ You don't have to reply to all the emails;
>> if need be, you
>> can just reply with the three words "Sorry, I'm busy". :)
>> ]  May I
>> please do that CC'ing, even though your new email address
>> will then
>> become public?
>>
>> 3.
>>
>> Can I forward emails we have sent to each other to public
>> mailing
>> lists or forums?
>>
>> 4.
>>
>> I looked for a public Snes9x source repository but its repo
>> is
>> actually nonpublic, and Snes9x is under a "non-commercial
>> use only"
>> freeware license.[1]  In zsnes's public repo 2xsai.cpp
>> is there[2] in
>> the "deleted files" section of /src/video, but there's no
>> comment,
>> even in the revision log[3], that you gave this
>> permission.  So I fear
>> that people will incorrectly think ZSNES relicensed your
>> code without
>> your permission.  Plus, there are multiple versions of
>> 2xSaI floating
>> around.
>>
>> Considering both these points, I think the best thing to do
>> is to
>> reply to this message with a permission notice.
>> Please CC it to a
>> public mailing list like fedora-legal-list at redhat.com
>> or
>> debian-legal at lists.debian.org.
>> Either one is fine, but pick only one.
>>  Pick according to your distro preference, or pick
>> fedora-legal-list
>> if you don't care.  Write the words "I hereby release
>> all versions of
>> 2xSai, old and new, under the GNU General Public License,
>> version 2 or
>> (at your option) any later version".
>>
>> Kind regards,
>> -Jason
>>
>> ^  [1].  http://www.snes9x.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=4334
>> ^  [2].  http://zsnes.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/zsnes/zsnes/src/video/?hideattic=0
>> ^  [3].  http://zsnes.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/zsnes/zsnes/src/video/2xsai.cpp?hideattic=0&view=log
>>
>> On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 3:52 PM, Derek Liauw <derekl666 at yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Wow,
>> >
>> > It's been at least 11 years since I wrote the code and
>> at least 7 years since
>> > I checked this e-mail lol... So just saw this
>> (somewhat old) by chance. So
>> > hope this still helps.
>> >
>> > To be honest I don't care what happens to the code
>> anymore?
>> >
>> > Whatever .zip file is around is probably from my old
>> xoom/usa.net website.
>> >
>> > If I remember correctly I agreed that newer versions
>> of the code could be
>> > released under GPL with ZSNES a long time ago (which I
>> integrated and agreed
>> > with the original author "_zsKnight").
>> >
>> > And yes I probably neglected to update all
>> pre-existing files/my abandoned
>> > website and such.
>> >
>> > My bad, but 1. I don't think my website exists
>> anymore.  2. If it does exist
>> > I probably don't know how to update it and the .zip
>> distro.  3. I haven't
>> > felt like making a new website for quite a while :P 4.
>> I consider ZSNES or
>> > the Snes9x projects as the new "source" of the
>> file(s), since those are newer
>> > versions / I more or less integrated them there, and I
>> assume the files
>> > source files already have a GPL license. (my memory
>> isn't that great).
>> >
>> > Hope that helps.
>> >
>> > --- On Thu, 7/30/09, Jason A. Spiro <jasonspiro4 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >> From: Jason A. Spiro <jasonspiro4 at gmail.com>
>> >> Subject: 2xSaI has an unclear license and may be
>> removed from a number of  programs in Fedora Linux
>> >> To: "Derek Liauw Kie Fa" <derek-liauw at usa.net>,
>> "Derek Liauw Kie Fa" <derekl666 at yahoo.com>,
>> "Robert J. Ohannessian" <voidstar at ifrance.com>
>> >> Date: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 11:06 PM
>> >> Hi,
>> >>
>> >> Derek's website[1] has a downloadable copy of
>> 2xSaI
>> >> available for
>> >> download.  The text of the website says "GPL",
>> but the
>> >> readme file
>> >> says something contradictory:
>> >>
>> >> 2xSaI Utility v0.7        Copyright (c)
>> >> Derek Liauw Kie Fa, 1999
>> >> Comments, Suggestions, Questions, Bugs etc.: derek-liauw at usa.net
>> >> http://members.xoom.com/derek_liauw/
>> >> This program is free for non-commercial use.
>> >>
>> >> Is the program GPLed (which means it is free to
>> sell,
>> >> modify, and
>> >> more), or is it merely free for non-commercial
>> use?
>> >> If it is GPLed,
>> >> then Derek, could you please update the zipfile to
>> say so,
>> >> and email
>> >> me the updated file?
>> >>
>> >> If you do not answer, then Fedora Linux may have
>> to rip out
>> >> 2xSaI from
>> >> many programs included on the Fedora DVD.  This
>> will
>> >> be a lot of work,
>> >> and will make those programs worse.  :)  This
>> is
>> >> because Fedora does
>> >> not allow software which is only free for
>> non-commercial
>> >> use on their
>> >> DVD.  They require that the DVD be allowed to be
>> >> sold.
>> >>
>> >> Note that I don't represent or volunteer for
>> Fedora.
>> >> I am just
>> >> telling you their policies.
>> >>
>> >> Kind regards,
>> >> -Jason Spiro
>> >>
>> >> ^  [1].  http://web.archive.org/elektron.its.tudelft.nl/~dalikifa/
>>
>
>
>
>

-- 
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