118 lines
4.8 KiB
Text
118 lines
4.8 KiB
Text
The OpenFOAM-Extend Project
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Web site: http://www.extend-project.de/
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The goal of the OpenFOAM -Extend Project is to open the OpenFOAM CFD toolbox
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to community contributed extensions in the spirit of the Open Source
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development model.
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Software under the name OpenFOAM has been developed by a large group of
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volunteers starting in 1991 and has spread through scientific and engineering
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community in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Its main strength was the spirit
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of open collaboration in the community: the aim of the OpenFOAM-Extend Project
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is to formalize this spirit.
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* Trademark notice
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Currently, the word "OpenFOAM" is held as a trademark by a commercial
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company, not associated with the Open Source development effort of this
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software. While the author acknowledges the existence of Trademark,
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association of trademarked phrase with the the code developed by third
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parties and including the author is misleading in terms of authorship,
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ownership of intellectual property of the source code.
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In the absence of a legal resolution, we shall refer to the project as the
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-Extend project and software as "OpenFOAM", as per agreement between
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Prof. Hrvoje Jasak and Mr. Henry G. Weller of 30 September 2004.
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The excerpts below are from the correspondences of Dr.Jasak and are to
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his knowledge all the relevant writings about this topic. Although
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this topic has been discussed before in public forums there exists no
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'official' answer by OpenCFD on this issue. In the interest of
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fairness a reference (link) to such an answer will be added to this
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document as soon as we come aware of it.
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09/30/2004 01:45 PM
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Dear Dr. Jasak,
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I propose that we make FOAM open-source and shutdown Nabla, that way we
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are free to pursue whatever future we wish independently.
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Henry G. Weller
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Managing Director
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Nabla Ltd
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The first release of the OpenFOAM source code of 10 December 2004
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and subsequent clarification of 16 February 2005.
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Hi Henry,
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...
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Regarding the new setup, I would like to thank you for your effort i
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n making FOAM public domain, with crucial comments regarding some
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important details.
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- in the header files for the open version of foam there exists a line
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which claims copyright for OpenCFD Ltd:
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Copyright (C) 1991-2004 OpenCFD Ltd.
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I am not sure whether it is possible to claim copyright over a GPL piece
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of software, but this is at least misleading. In order for this
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statement to be true, OpenCFD Ltd. would need to purchase the copyright
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from Nabla Ltd. and from you and me personally (due to unresolved
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ownership and the remaining payments Nabla Ltd. needs to make to us
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regarding the original transfer of copyright). I can offer a number
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of solutions acceptable to me as follows:
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1) no Copyright statement apart from the required GPL statement
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2) Copyright OpenFOAM.org
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3) Copyright Henry Weller, Hrvoje Jasak et al
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4) Copyright OpenCFD and Hrvoje Jasak
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5) List of authors instead of the copyright statement
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I am also prepared to consider any other reasonable ideas along the same
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lines (including the sale of copyright, which would be a bit pointless
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at this stage) - please advise.
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02/17/2005 11:09 PM
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Under the GPL there has to be an organization in place to enforce the GPL
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if there are violation, these are part of the rules. OpenCFD undertakes
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that responsibility hence the copyright.
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Henry G. Weller
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Managing Director
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12 November 2010
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From the above it is clear that OpenCFD does not own the rights or
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authorship of the source code, which is currently concealed in public.
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For further details, I have been attempting to get a formal response by
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this company for 6 years now, without success. It is time to move on.
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The current Copyright notice does not fairly describe the authorship of
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the software. In the spirit of the open source development model, the
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-Extend project wishes to formally acknowledge all contributors and
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developers of OpenFOAM from its inception to today.
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As this issue still remains unresolved, and the list of contributors
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has been removed from the OpenFOAM source code by Mr. Weller in 2006,
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we shall re-base OpenFOAM as an Open Source community-based project
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and associate the authorship and Copyright in each case with the
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original author.
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Hrvoje Jasak
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This offering is not affiliated with OpenCFD Limited, owner of the OpenFOAM
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trade mark.
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Please find the official website of OpenCFD Limited at http://www.openfoam.org
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In particular, OpenCFD Limited hosts the following legal statements:
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- licensing and intellectual property: http://www.openfoam.com/legal/index.php
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- trademark policy: http://www.openfoam.com/legal/trademark-policy.php
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