Procomp+ support?

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salamandyr
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Procomp+ support?

Post by salamandyr »

hi - just wondering if anyone has gotten Thought Technology amps working with OpenVibe, specifically a Procomp+

yrenard
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Re: Procomp+ support?

Post by yrenard »

Dear salamandyr,

thank you for this question. The Thought Technologies devices are not yet supported by OpenViBE. Their SDK license has restrictions on the application that can be built with it. Among these restriction is one regarding the clinical applications. This is not compatible with the LGPL. Feel free to get in touch with them directly, the more voices they hear, the more they are likely to move forward to a different license :)

Sorry for this,
best regards,
Yann

salamandyr
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Re: Procomp+ support?

Post by salamandyr »

Hi - thanks for the reply. I used to work for a software (driver/database) company.. so I do understand the LGPL fairly well. I'm not a huge fan, only because the non-contaminating clauses tend not to work, in practice, and the spectre of GPL remains. I wasn't aware of specific clinical-use restrictions in the LGPL though.

I'd be happy to write TT a letter. OpenVibe is one of only a handful of multi-function GUI-enabled multifuction EEG platforms that can enable productive analysis for people at various technical levels. They have a new Science Division, apparently, so may have new ideas about the SDK too.

That being said, won't LGPL licensure mostly only prohibit out-of-license use if you are redistributing?
E.g. is there a possible build path for an academic researcher (me) who wants to use a TT device?

I must confess I dont know enough about OpenVibe to know if we are talking about just building a driver or if support involves something more core to OpenVibe in terms of compilation, so that it violates the LGPL in other ways.

yrenard
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Re: Procomp+ support?

Post by yrenard »

Dear salamandyr,

I'm sorry I did not make it clear about the license issue. The point is TT don't want their devices to be used for clinical application with third party software. They made their SDK license this way and this implies a restriction of the use that can be made of their SDK. On the other hand, the basic rules of free software are 1- Use the software for whatever purpose, 2- you can study how the software works because you have the source code, 3- you can adapt the software to your specific needs and 4- if you distribute a modified version of the software, distribute the modified sources as well so it is kept free software. As you can see, rule 1 is in conflict with TT license (and strategy).

But please, let them know that such setup would make sense to you :) I'm 100% sure you are not alone for this request !

Hope this is made more clear,
Regards,
Yann

salamandyr
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Re: Procomp+ support?

Post by salamandyr »

TT devices are in extensive use in clinical settings for neurofeedback, e.g. they work with 3rd party software like EEGer - is that not the same sort of architecture support / positioning that OpenVibe would need?


yrenard wrote:Dear salamandyr,

I'm sorry I did not make it clear about the license issue. The point is TT don't want their devices to be used for clinical application with third party software. They made their SDK license this way and this implies a restriction of the use that can be made of their SDK. On the other hand, the basic rules of free software are 1- Use the software for whatever purpose, 2- you can study how the software works because you have the source code, 3- you can adapt the software to your specific needs and 4- if you distribute a modified version of the software, distribute the modified sources as well so it is kept free software. As you can see, rule 1 is in conflict with TT license (and strategy).

But please, let them know that such setup would make sense to you :) I'm 100% sure you are not alone for this request !

Hope this is made more clear,
Regards,
Yann

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