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Paperwork for neXus

  • To: Multiple recipients of list <epc-l@iucr.org>
  • Subject: Paperwork for neXus
  • From: Brian McMahon <bm@iucr.org>
  • Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 10:01:26 GMT
Now that we are agreed in principle on the way to implement neXus, I suggest
that at least two things need to be done:

(1) we should check that we are able to supply a web browser on the CD-ROM

(2) we should generate a standard request letter explaining the purpose of
the project and asking permission to mirror individual software suites on
the IUCr web and the neXus CD-ROM.

For (1), I note the recent decision of the Netscape Corporation to allow its
Communicator suite to be redistributed without charge. This makes it
attractive as a full-featured browser for distribution on the CD-ROM (given
that the target customer base includes people without web access, it is
necessary to supply a browser on the disk). However, while my reading of the
press statements suggested that there were no restrictions on its
redistribution, one might need to look at the small print - especially
regarding possible export restrictions of US-originating software to
countries not in favour with the US federal government. Can Lachlan and Yves
investigate this and report back?

Note also that the Netscape suite will occupy a significant portion of the
ever-shrinking free space on the CD-ROM.

For (2) I would like to request Yves to produce a first draft that we could
all look at and review. The letter should describe briefly the aims of the
neXus project, and request permission to copy an author's web and/or ftp
site onto the IUCr master server and its satellites, and redistribute it on
CD-ROM. Ideally we would ask the author for a set of STABLE URLs from which
we would continually mirror the most current release version of the software.

I would guess that authors might wish to know under what terms their
material would be redistributed (specifically whether the IUCr would charge
for redistributed copies), and so it might also be useful for us to discuss
the preferred charging model for the CD-ROM at this stage.


Regards
Brian

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