Dear root experts,
I’m a former user of root and I was using it quite extensively throughout my time as a PHD student at CERN.
I have a python re-implementation in place of a small part of root, which I’d like to distribute as a standalone python package. Can you please advise me which license I have to use in such a case and in what extend I have to link to the original root-code?
Thanks a lot in advance,
Dirk
Hi Dirk,
Good to hear that ROOT was useful, thanks for sharing!
Most of ROOT’s own code (i.e. not contributed packages such as cppyy) are LGPL’ed. I’m no lawyer, and so I cannot answer your question. But I have a personal opinion / expectation, and that is that a re-implementation does not depend on the license of the original software, but that we would certainly appreciate a “kudos” in publications / documentation / code!
Out of curiosity, which part are we talking about?
Cheers, Axel.
Hi @Axel,
from what I understand, I think I have to use at least LGPL2.1, or higher, right? And of course, documentation etc. would include kudos to the original code 
The re-implementation is basically about the functionality of the TGraphAsymmErrors.Divide() function, so basically the calculation of uncertainties for efficiencies and 2 Poisson means.
Cheers,
Dirk
Hi Dirk,
ROOT is indeed licensed LGPL 2.1 or higher. My opinion / understanding on whether a reimplementation has to have the same license didn’t change, now that I know it’s just about a couple of additions, multiplications, and divisions!
Cheers, Axel.