[Scilab-users] License agreement question

[Tim Wescott]

On Wed, 2015-02-04 at 17:17 -0600, Benjamin Rentschler wrote:
> To Whom it may Concern,
> 
> I was reading through the Scilab licensing agreement for version 5.5.1
> and I came across the statement below.
> 
> "In this respect, the risks associated with loading, using, modifying
> and/or developing or reproducing the software by the user are brought to
> the user's attention, given its Free Software status, which may make it
> complicated to use, with the result that its use is reserved for
> developers and experienced professionals having in-depth computer
> knowledge."
> 
> Normally I would not consider myself to be a developer or an
> experienced computer professional with in depth computer knowledge.
> However, since I would like to use Scilab to assist me with projects,
> I was wondering if I fit under this definition as stated in the
> agreement.

It reads to me like a legally defensible way of saying "you're on your
own, bub".

I'm pretty active on the comp.dsp newsgroup on USENET, and there seems
to be a small but significant minority of people -- either students or
young practitioners -- who cannot seem to distinguish between true
knowledge of DSP and what commands to type into Matlab (Scilab, too,
roughly in proportion to its installed base compared to Matlab).  Some
of these people get seriously bent out of shape when you tell them that
they need to apply a pencil to paper, and to guide that pencil with deep
thought and consideration, rather than just picking the right Matlab
command to cough up an answer.

That clause reads to me like an answer to those folks.

Any tool that you use should be treated as such, and for anything really
important you should do the engineering from at least two directions
(this is why development for life-critical systems is slow and
expensive).  So no matter what the tool is, whether it be Scilab,
Maxima, or your brain and a pencil, you shouldn't just trust the tool to
cough up the right answer: I think that's what they're trying to say.

-- 

Tim Wescott
www.wescottdesign.com
Control & Communications systems, circuit & software design.
Phone: 503.631.7815
Cell:  503.349.8432