Re: [Bulk] Re: fplan-list Digest, Vol 6, Issue 3

[Kevin Horton <khorton01 rogers com>]

On 15 Jun 2005, at 8:18, Stephen Birch wrote:

> Kevin Horton(khorton01 rogers com)@2005-06-15 07:10:
>
> > For xfplan, I would like to finish off my package for OS X.  But, I
> > either need to get access to a tarball with the databases (not an
> > rpm, as OS X doesn't have rpm tools by default), or I need to figure
> > out how to modify the makefile so it will build without having the
> > databases present.  The best solution, I think, is to have a tarball
> > with the databases on sourceforge.  Is that possible?
>
> Hmmm ... packaging fplan/xfplan for debian is on my ever growing todo
> list so I have the same issue.  Since fplan isnt of much use without
> the datebase I was hoping to just put it inside the package.
>
> The only issue there is the license.  Do you know if there are any
> license issues with the flplan datebase or is it in the public domain?
>
> With good reason debian is very careful about only including properly
> licensed content.

I hadn't yet thought about licensing, but it is a very valid point.   
The OS X package would be part of the Fink packaging system, and any  
distribution must be in accordance with the terms of the original  
data's license.

I looked at the fplan database files, and at the xfplan database  
files, and I can't find any info on license anywhere.

One solution might be to create a utility that could create a  
database from online data, such as is found here:

http://xcski.com/~ptomblin/CoPilot/

The data covers more than just the US, which is a major advantage  
IMHO.  I use the Palm CoPilot program on my PDA, and the database  
generator works very well.  The US data is from the Digitial Aviation  
Flight Information File, and the license terms seem acceptable:

https://164.214.2.62/products/digitalaero/dafifcopyright.html

Kevin Horton
Ottawa, Canada