Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Web pdp-10.trailing-edge.com

		KCC DISTRIBUTION POLICY

	This file describes the general KCC distribution policy --
licensing, restrictions, and that sort of thing.  If you're not sure
how it applies to your particular situation, just get in touch.

	First, note that the files are copyrighted.  However, we
consider them "quasi-public" and distribute them freely; the problem
is that sometimes true public-domain stuff is acquired by private
parties and modified slightly to produce a licensed, costly product.
We wish to prevent this by keeping the sources available to everyone
who wants to use KCC, but unavailable to those who have ideas of
selling it; hence the copyright.  This applies to all modifications as
well.

	Second, since the software is provided free of charge, there
is absolutely NO WARRANTY on anything in this distribution, nor any
obligation to provide maintenance, and all of the usual software
disclaimers apply to everything.  If we were to be held responsible
for any problems, we could not distribute KCC at all.

	The situation with respect to including KCC as a component of
commercial software packages is fuzzy.  Our current inclination is to
allow this as a convenience to the ultimate end users, provided they
are given ALL of the distribution, including sources and this notice.
However, certain cirumstances may force re-assessment of this
position; e.g.  extensive modifications, huge numbers of users,
time-consuming maintenance requirements...  people with such
applications in mind should contact us.

	People may be tempted to modify and "improve" the software.
This is natural and to some extent desirable, but can quickly lead to
chaos without some rules governing these additions and modifications.
So we simply state that the use of KCC automatically implies agreement
with the following policies:

General:
	1. KCC is maintained as a primary software tool for SRI-NIC,
and ensuring that it remains reliable and useful for this purpose must
necessarily have our highest priority.
	2. Next most important is conformance to the C language
defined by Harbison and Steele, plus the forthcoming ANSI C standard
(currently a X3J11 committee draft).  This includes library functions.
	3. Software portability, particularly to 4.3BSD-type UN*X,
is slightly more important than TOPS-20 efficiency.
	4. Licensed UN*X software sources will never be used or
distributed, and such contributions cannot be accepted.

People making changes to KCC or the library should:

	1. Retain the copyright notice for each module, and add a
history notice comment describing the change.
	2. Relay your improvements to the maintainers of the canonical
version, so that they can be incorporated into new releases!
Otherwise both you and the rest of the world will lose.
	3. Realize that your changes may not be adopted exactly as
provided, if they conflict with one of the general policies.  New
library functions are particularly prone to this problem.  As a
solution we will probably collect such things into a separate library
or two (e.g. for TOPS-20 specific functions).

Finally:
	If at all possible, ask people who want copies of KCC to
	get it from the canonical source.  If you must give
	them a copy, keep all of the original distribution
	intact in some form so that the baseline is constant.

	KCC is still under active development, and new releases (with
all accumulated bug fixes, improvements, or new features) can be
expected frequently.  At all times there will exist only one canonical
version of the software, from which all distributions are made.  If
you can make an Internet FTP connection to SRI-NIC.ARPA, you can
retrieve it whenever you wish.

	Canonical version:	KCCDIST: directory on SRI-NIC.ARPA
	Maintainer mailbox:	<BUG-KCC@SRI-NIC.ARPA>
	Information list:	<INFO-KCC@SRI-NIC.ARPA>
	     (to get on:)	<INFO-KCC-REQUEST@SRI-NIC.ARPA>

BUG-KCC is for bug and problem reports and is sometimes used for
discussion of esoteric internal issues.  INFO-KCC members basically
receive announcements of new releases and developments, and every site
which has installed KCC should have at least one representative on
that list.  If enough users express interest, a user discussion group
could also be started (probably this would deal with C on TOPS-20 in
general rather than just KCC).

	Good luck!  Feel free to contact me about any problems or questions
you have.

Ken Harrenstien		Internet: <KLH@SRI-NIC.ARPA>  Phone: (415) 859-6552
Room EJ200
SRI International
333 Ravenswood Ave.
Menlo Park, CA  94025