Reconsidering the GPL licensing of Maxima

Andrey G. Grozin wrote:

> On Thu, 8 Sep 2005, Richard Fateman wrote:
> 
>>Bill's additions and corrections until (I think) 1990
>>need not be restricted by GPL because they were given to DOE
>>in DOE-MACSYMA and DOE has the rights to distribute. We see
>>DOE is perfectly happy to release them
>>under a more liberal license.
> 
> More liberal?? It is not even free in the "free beer" sense. Where can I 
> get these sources without paying to DOE? If I get it, can I redistribute 
> it for free?

Yes, I thinky you can get it free, with the only condition that you not send
it to Cuba.  Right now, I believe it is available on the Univ. of Texas
web site.  The question is, which file is the same as the DOE-Macsyma
version?  But they are all free.

I expect that Mathsoft will obtain a fresh copy that is entirely free
of the shadow of "maybe GPL" sections, and I hope that, if it makes sense to do
so, the maxima project will post it on sourceforge.

The charge for the copy from DOE is supposed to cover the
one time copying expenses of making a CD-ROM.  (I believe
that under GPL one can charge for copying.)

So basically it is free, and free to redistribute.
> 
> I only contributed small pieces to maxima, mainly to mactex.lisp. I did it 
> because this code is guaratneed to remain free forever by GPL. 

Under LLGPL such code will still be guaranteed free. With LLGPL it could
be distributed together with software that is not open-source GPL, such
as a commercial front end or commercial back end.

I don't
> want MathSoft or whatever to use results of my work without paying me. It 
> you are going to change the license, please, insert back all the bugs in 
> mactex.lisp which I have fixed.

You are free to make this determination.
I think that LLGPL satisfies most peoples' concerns.

Consider that if
there are more bugs to be fixed in Maxima, perhaps Mathsoft will find and
fix them. (possibly paying people like you to do so.)
If so, LLGPL assures that these fixes will be part of the free and open
source code.  I hope these considerations are a good balance for you.

RJF