5 ms·

Sounds reasonable, although I think this term in the license will discourage many people: “Audit You will maintain accurate records of Your use of the Free En

Sounds reasonable, although I think this term in the license will discourage many people: “Audit You will maintain accurate records of Your use of the Free Engine sufficient to show compliance with these Terms and Conditions, and Wolfram will have the right to audit such records to confirm compliance therewith. Upon written notice of an audit from Wolfram, You shall respond within ten (10) business days.” https://www.wolfram.com/legal/terms/wolfram-engine.html https://www.wolfram.com/legal/terms/wolfram-engine.html

reikonomusha 7y ago
> Open-source projects approved by Wolfram. “You can’t use this free thing to make other actually free things.”
- dmitriid 7y ago
  Isn't that a common thing for commercial products that are provided for free to students, open source projects, non-profit organisations etc.? You have to prove that you're going to use it for what the license allows.
  - reikonomusha 7y ago
    Perhaps I’m being a stickler for language, but I don’t consider it “free for open source projects” if I have to contact them to get permission to use it in an open source project. My beef is that the word “free” is being thrown around in this article. They should say something more true, like “we provide this engine for experimental personal use at no charge, and if you want to use it for something serious (open source, your company, etc.) contact us for a license.”
    - Crinus 7y ago
      Free means no charge for the vast majority of people who can understand English.
      - reikonomusha 7y ago
        “Free” also carries meaning outside of the commercial context and specifically in the context of software to English-speaking software developers. If I heard someone talking about software—especially developer software—being free, I personally would assume they mean “libre”, not “gratis”. But I can understand if that’s not universal.
        ClassyJacket 7y ago
        "I personally would assume they mean “libre”, not “gratis”." I don't even know what either of those mean and I've been coding and on HN for years. I'm not even sure how to pronounce the first one. In Australia at least, 'free' means it doesn't cost money.
        commoner 7y ago
        Free has two standard meanings that are used commonly, "free of charge" (gratis) and "free from restriction" (libre): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratis_versus_libre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratis_versus_libre Gratis: "Buy one, get one free." Libre: "You are free to leave."
    - dmitriid 7y ago
      A stickler for language should know that free is ambiguous in English, and their use of ”free” as ”zero cost” is correct. Gratis vs. libre and all that.
      - aflag 7y ago
        Correct, but misleading in the context.
lallysingh 7y ago
Is this anything more than keeping version control and responding if challenged with 'git log?'
- pfortuny 7y ago
  Nope: "use of the engine" is much more than "what I programmed in it", as far as I understand. Read in a very stringent sense it is tantamount to keeping a "laboratory log", which is much much more complex than git. (What about some computations you used to help somebody out of your project?).

reikonomusha 7y ago

> Open-source projects approved by Wolfram. “You can’t use this free thing to make other actually free things.”

dmitriid 7y ago
Isn't that a common thing for commercial products that are provided for free to students, open source projects, non-profit organisations etc.? You have to prove that you're going to use it for what the license allows.
- reikonomusha 7y ago
  Perhaps I’m being a stickler for language, but I don’t consider it “free for open source projects” if I have to contact them to get permission to use it in an open source project. My beef is that the word “free” is being thrown around in this article. They should say something more true, like “we provide this engine for experimental personal use at no charge, and if you want to use it for something serious (open source, your company, etc.) contact us for a license.”
  - Crinus 7y ago
    Free means no charge for the vast majority of people who can understand English.
    - reikonomusha 7y ago
      “Free” also carries meaning outside of the commercial context and specifically in the context of software to English-speaking software developers. If I heard someone talking about software—especially developer software—being free, I personally would assume they mean “libre”, not “gratis”. But I can understand if that’s not universal.
      - ClassyJacket 7y ago
        "I personally would assume they mean “libre”, not “gratis”." I don't even know what either of those mean and I've been coding and on HN for years. I'm not even sure how to pronounce the first one. In Australia at least, 'free' means it doesn't cost money.
        commoner 7y ago
        Free has two standard meanings that are used commonly, "free of charge" (gratis) and "free from restriction" (libre): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratis_versus_libre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratis_versus_libre Gratis: "Buy one, get one free." Libre: "You are free to leave."
  - dmitriid 7y ago
    A stickler for language should know that free is ambiguous in English, and their use of ”free” as ”zero cost” is correct. Gratis vs. libre and all that.
    - aflag 7y ago
      Correct, but misleading in the context.

lallysingh 7y ago

Is this anything more than keeping version control and responding if challenged with 'git log?'

pfortuny 7y ago
Nope: "use of the engine" is much more than "what I programmed in it", as far as I understand. Read in a very stringent sense it is tantamount to keeping a "laboratory log", which is much much more complex than git. (What about some computations you used to help somebody out of your project?).