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smithed / vicompare

This is a tool used to perform diff and merge on LabVIEW VIs using git. Git is at present difficult to configure and use, and the paths require significant processing to make them work on windows with LabVIEW's diff tool. This attempts to bridge the gap by adding that processing in a LV executable.
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Usage license of this code #6

Open lucienchang123 opened 1 year ago

lucienchang123 commented 1 year ago

Hi Daniel Smith, Sorry to use this way to contact you. I'd like to confirm with you that is the repo a free usage library with no indemnity clause? Since I saw the NI SW licnese, is the repo sponsored by NI? Thanks

Lucien

falcn12 commented 1 year ago

I am not Daniel, I forked his original repo. Backtrace to the original one and I think he has the free use verbage on his repo About Me.

Ryan

On Tue, Jan 31, 2023, 6:50 PM lucienchang123 @.***> wrote:

Hi Daniel Smith, Sorry to use this way to contact you. I'd like to confirm with you that is the repo a free usage library with no indemnity clause? Since I saw the NI SW licnese, is the repo sponsored by NI? Thanks

Lucien

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/smithed/vicompare/issues/6, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AGJXCZVZGFCMLDM6U5JDOKLWVHFPZANCNFSM6AAAAAAUNFO2BE . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: @.***>

smithed commented 1 year ago

I am no longer an NI employee, and I am not a lawyer, and this was a decade ago, but I will try to clarify what I can.

Back at the time, the built-in diff and merge did not play nice with git tools like sourcetree because git had put in absolutely zero effort to play nice with anyone and the diff and merge tool really didn't work super well with any diff and merge because you'd end up with two copies of a VI and things like libraries wanted nothing to do with either of the copies. The real diff and merge function inside labview is just a vi server method, so with permission from my manager at the time, I wrapped the code in a more useful command line parser and released it.

Around the same time my group at NI started using what was called the 'sample code license' which is the combination of the text in the readme ("This repository and any materials provided by NI therein are provided AS IS. NI DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITIES FOR AND MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. NI shall have no liability for any direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, special, or consequential damages for your use of the repository or any materials contained therein.") and the License.txt file. This was, for a while, used on all code produced by the systems engineering group at NI.

I am not aware of what would constitute an indemnity clause and I have no intention of providing legal advice ever, let alone on this page, but thats the story of how this code got released, the intention that it be freely available except for the password protected code, and what license was attached/why it was attached.

smithed commented 1 year ago

I should also note, I think I saw some release of LabVIEW was supposed to improve the diff and merge tools? So maybe this isn't needed anymore. I'm no longer in labviewland so I do not know.