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This package was debianized by David Engel <david@debiang.org>
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from sources obtained from http://expect.nist.gov/
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It is now maintained by Mike Markley <mike@markley.org>.
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#5. Do we need to pay or ask for permission to distribute Expect?
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From: libes (Don Libes)
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To: Mohammad Reza Jahanbin <mrj@CIS.Prime.COM>
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Subject: Copyright Question.
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Date: Tue, 26 Jan 93 23:46:24 EST
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Mohammad Reza Jahanbin writes:
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>Before anything let me thank you on behalf of ComputeVision R&D for
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>putting so much effort into Expect. Part of CV has been using Expect
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>for the past two years or so to build variety of tools including an
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>automated testbed for a product.
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>CV is currently considering shipping the automated testbed to some of its
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>retailers, to enable them to perform their own tests before distributing
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>The Question is, are we allowed to ship Expect? Do we need to ask
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>anyone for permission? Do we need to say or write anything in the
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>documentation? Do we need to pay for it?
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>I have not been able to find any copyright (or indeed copyleft) notices
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>in the usual Expect distribution. Would you be able to clarify our position.
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Sorry to delay in responding. I sent your request to my management
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and they had to discuss it (if they didn't, there would be no reason
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to pay them). While they continue to discuss it, I can tell you
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informally the gist of what they will eventually say:
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You are allowed to do just about anything with Expect. You can even
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sell it. You need not ask our permission. You need not pay for it.
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(It is my understanding that your tax dollars, in effect, already have
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You should not claim that you wrote it (since this would be a lie), nor
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should you attempt to copyright it (this would be fruitless as it is a
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work of the US government and therefore not subject to copyright).
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NIST would appreciate any credit you can give for this work. One line
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may suffice (as far as I'm concerned) although there should be
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something to the effect that this software was produced for research
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purposes. No warantee, guarantee, or liability is implied.
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My management is always interested in feedback on our work. If you
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would like to send letters of praise describing how Expect has helped
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your business, we would be delighted. Letters (on letterhead please)
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are strong evidence used by policy makers when deciding where every
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dollar goes. If you want to send these letters to NIST directly, you
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may send them to the following individuals:
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Arati Prabahkar, Director
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Gaithersburg, MD 20899
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Ric Jackson, Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory
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Gaithersburg, MD 20899
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Howard Bloom, Manufacturing Systems Integration Division
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Gaithersburg, MD 20899
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Steve Ray, Manufacturing Collaboration Technologies Group
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Gaithersburg, MD 20899
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In case you're wondering about the uninformative titles, Arati Prabahkar is the
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director of all of NIST (about 3000 people) and Steve Ray (way down there
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at the bottom) is my immediate supervisor (and of 10 other very lucky people).
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I hope this has answered your questions. Let me know if you have
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This package was first debianized by David Engel <david@debian.org> on
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Sat, 28 Aug 1999 23:53:51 -0500.
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It was downloaded from <http://expect.nist.gov/>.
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Upstream Author: Don Libes <libes@cme.nist.gov>,
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National Institute of Standards and Technology
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<http://www.nist.gov/>.
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1987-2002 Don Libes <libes@cme.nist.gov>,
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National Institute of Standards and Technology <http://www.nist.gov/>
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Design and implementation of this program was paid for by U.S. tax
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dollars. Therefore it is public domain. However, the author and NIST
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would appreciate credit if this program or parts of it are used.
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debian/copyright
