"Fernando Cacciola" <fernando_cacciola@hotmail.com> writes:
I also suspect that CGAL (which apparently is not as free as boost)
CGAL is modularized and each package has its own license.
Many packages, like Basic Kernels, Number Types, 2D Polygons, etc are released under the LPGL [...]
which is not as free as the boost license but it's close enough for most applications.
The problem is that taken as a whole, the CGAL license situation is a huge mess -- _most_ of the library seems to be under the ultra-obnoxious QPL, and there are inter-package "dependencies" that sometimes cause a LGPL'd CGAL package to more or less "depend" on a QPL'd package! For instance, the CGAL "surface subdivision" package, which is licensed under the LGPL, is template-parameterized with an underlying 3d polygon type -- however the appropriate CGAL 3d polygon type uses the QPL! I put "dependencies" in quotes, because the template parameterization means it's a "defacto" dependency rather than hard one. However, given the range of functionality used by the SS package, it doesn't look particularly trivial to replace the underlying polygon type with one's one code. I think many users that would be otherwise OK with the LGPL would be put off by this confusing situation, as I am.
Furthermore, CGAL is now open-source, which means everyone can participate. ... For this reason I usually recommend people to contribute geometric libraries to CGAL rather than boost.
I would never consider contributing to CGAL, nor using it, until they straighten out the licensing. -Miles -- In New York, most people don't have cars, so if you want to kill a person, you have to take the subway to their house. And sometimes on the way, the train is delayed and you get impatient, so you have to kill someone on the subway. [George Carlin]