Hi Hibby, I think that these files are public domain: First, they are originated by nasa.gov, which is a U.S. governmental institution, and so they are PD by law.
Then (and may be more important): These files are not copyrightable ad all, since they are natural data; they describe *facts*. As one can't copyright the distance to the moon, one can't copyright the details of earth rotation. I wanted to package these files as well * http://bugs.debian.org/842931 casacore-data-jplde * https://salsa.debian.org/debian-astro-team/casacore-data-jplde but I stopped at some point since I couldn't create the binary database in the required (casacore) format at the time. I could restart my approach, and since the sources are identical, we could generate both binaries from the same source. What do you think? Best regards Ole Hibby <d...@vehibberd.com> writes: > I am currently packaging wsjtx[1][2] for re-inclusion in Debian. > > In the code there is a binary - JPLEPH[3], which looks to be a compiled > version of JPL Planetary Ephemeris[4]. Inspecting the binary, I assume > the tool used was asc2eph, so I'm assuming it's the v405 ascii > ephemerides files that were used. I'm contacting the upstream author to > clarify this. Ideally I'd like to upload the source and build this file > as part of the package build process. > > What I'm here to clarify is that I can't see a license for the ascii > files - I'm not sure if this fileset is something that anyone in > debian-legal have come across, or have any advice on what license they > may have been released under? I can't see anything on the JPL FTP server > outside of the CD Notes from the original release [5]. The contact > detailed on them worked at JPL 21 years ago, and I don't reckon the > email address is still active. > > Any advice or suggestions you can offer would be greatly received! > > Thanks, > > Hibby > > [1] http://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/ > [2] https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/wsjtx > [3] > https://salsa.debian.org/debian-hamradio-team/wsjtx/tree/master/contrib/Ephemeris > [4] https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?planet_eph_export > [5] ftp://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/eph/planets/CDROM.notes
