Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!tgl
From: tgl+@cs.cmu.edu (Tom Lane)
Subject: Re: XV 3.00 has escaped!
Message-ID: <C6C39r.5so.2@cs.cmu.edu>
Sender: news@cs.cmu.edu (Usenet News System)
Nntp-Posting-Host: g.gp.cs.cmu.edu
Organization: Independent JPEG Group
References: <123645@netnews.upenn.edu> <sherman.736068579@lea>
Date: Sat, 1 May 1993 05:58:34 GMT
Lines: 29

sherman@lea.csc.ncsu.edu (Chris Sherman) gripes:
> It really bums me out that xv went shareware.

xv's been shareware for about a year ... hadn't you noticed?
I don't have a problem with this.  John Bradley has put a *hell*
of a lot of work into xv, and if he feels that it's time to get
some monetary reward from it, that's surely his right.

> Can the author legally sell xv?  Xv uses tiff and jpeg code developed
> by others.  Did the author get permission to sell these works?

Had you bothered to consult the distribution terms of the IJG JPEG
code (which are right there in the xv distribution), you would have
observed that we specifically grant permission for use in shareware
and commercial software.  Sam Leffler's libtiff copyright also grants
permission for unrestricted use including resale.

> My guess is that now nobody is going to want to help the author
> maintain the code anymore now that xv has become a commercial product,

"Commercial"?  There's a big difference between a polite request
for a voluntary donation and commercial, it's-illegal-to-copy-this-
and-we'll-sic-our-lawyers-on-you software.

I do agree that John's readme file could be a little clearer about
what he means by personal use.

			regards, tom lane
			organizer, Independent JPEG Group
