[Freegis-list] Lx-Viewer (DWG viewer for Linux)

[Buyer242299@aol.com]

Hello all,

I am the nut case that started the lx-drawing viewer program. Guy asked me to 
review the posts made here recently and to comment on any information or 
points I saw that may need clarification.   I have been a member of this list 
for all of 30 minutes so go easy on me.

1)  You do need to be a member of the OpenDWG alliance to download the 
libraries.  I saw one line where it was said that the libraries are the same 
for all platforms - that is not correct.  On the members page there are 
versions for many different platforms.  I just checked and the Linux versions 
are still both posted.  The toolkit linux version is in the second column of 
choices, two down.  The viewkit linux version is in the second column of 
choices, three down.  

2) Once you become a member of the Alliance you are instantly granted access 
to the libraries to use (in perpetuity).  According to the license this use 
is for your own personal and internal use. The following discussion was 
lifted from the OpenDWG formus, but I think it answers many of the questions 
raised here:


   posted March 08, 2001 03:36 PM      I am using the associate's viewkit to 
write some utilities, dwg2png, dwg2ps, dwg2jpeg.  

Question 1)
According to the license I may:    

*  You may incorporate the OpenDWG libraries into programs that are used 
within your organization, or are distributed for free to the general public 
(noncommercial use only)

What does noncommercial use mean here?  Does it say I must
attempt to prevent people in a profit-making institution
from using it?  Or does it say I must not attempt to make
money from it?

Question 2)

Are any common licenses considered compatible with the viewkit: e.g., GPL, 
LGPL, BSD? 
That is, I am not asking about opendwg code or libraries.
I want to know if I write a piece of code which is linked
to the viewkit, may I release my code under the GPL or
some license which is considered compatible?

Question 3)

Is addispwk.c copyrighted, licensed, or otherwise controlled.  If so, how may 
modifications of addispwk.c
be distributed? 
   
Evan Yares 
Administrator 
Member # 3 

   posted March 12, 2001 11:33 AM      In this case, noncommercial means that 
you can't sell it.  It is a Copyleft type restriction.  So, if you develop 
these applications, we ask you to make them available to us for distribution 
on the OpenDWG website.  (By the way, they sound like great tools.)

We are not entirely compatible with GPL or its ilk - but we are close enough. 
 Your applications can be GPL compatible by providing only *your* source code 
as part of the package, and referring any users who wish to modify your 
applications back to the OpenDWG web site for the Toolkit or Viewkit.  You 
may thus incorporate the OpenDWG libraries into the executable distribution 
of the software.

We had not previously put any separate license terms on addispwk.c, but I'm 
amenable to offering it under GPL.

Evan Yares
President/Executive Director, OpenDWG Alliance 



3)   I am not writing the following as an opendwg cheerleader, but this 
library seems to be the best that we have to work with right now.  I read 
with some interest the discussion about developing a true GPL drawing format. 
 No doubt it is a worth goal, but as a practical matter I don't see it ever 
happening.  I must passed the 2 year anniversary of working on Viewer, and if 
you really think about it there is not a whole lot to show after 2 years (for 
a hobby maybe not bad, but wholly unacceptable in a commercial environment).

4)  The discussion about QCAD and dxf I also found interesting.  I know that 
many of my users are QCAD users that need some utility to convert dwg files 
they are sent into dxf that QCAD can read. 

5)  The batch conversion routine was written as a command line process 
because a year or so ago someone asked me to write one that way.  He wanted 
to set it up a cron job to batch convert dwg's into dxf's.  My thoughts for 
viewer are to eventually have a scripting facility available so users can 
customize it as they want (QT is developing a scripting app as a plug in).  
In the mean time I can certainly add additional batching abiltiy to the "save 
as" command.  

That's my 2 cents worth.  Hope this helps a bit with the discussion.

Andy

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