CGAL users discussion list

[Monique Teillaud <>]

----- Le 5 Fév 25, à 14:41, Andre Caldas  a écrit :

> As far as I understood up to now, CGAL, although "free software" as
> per license terms, its development is actually quite closed. The
> business model is based on the fear of the GPL and on the lack of full
> functionality for the "free version", like "exact square roots". The
> "community" is quite closed and restricted to "selected members".
> Sorry for the words... that's how I feel. :-(
> 
> André Caldas.

Feelings... imagination? nightmares? 
It would be useful to get feet back on the ground instead. Check facts. 

Sébastien and Andreas already gave information in this thread. 
GeometryFactory is so helpful for the CGAL project. Users who do not want to 
comply with the GPL and prefer to pay for a commercial license won't get a 
different version of CGAL with better square roots... sigh... 

For an overview of how and why the project actually works (my personal point 
of view), you might want to have a look the slides of the keynote talk that I 
gave last year: https://inria.hal.science/hal-04241529 

Many CGAL developers are academic researchers. We do not do business, we are 
working hard to provide science and industry with high quality open source 
software, and to give wide impact to recent theoretical research results. 

We need new blood, and anybody who is willing to work along these lines is 
welcome to join and submit new packages. The only selection is natural, as 
efforts are necessary. IMHO, it's worth it. 

--
Monique Teillaud
https://members.loria.fr/Monique.Teillaud/
INRIA Nancy - Grand Est, LORIA 
Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique