GD Graphics Library withdrawn

Wacko writes "The gd library, which allows on-the-fly creation of GIF files, has been withdrawn due to copyright problems. They say they may release another version in the future, but would either need to remove LZW compression algorithm or charge for the library. " Mmmm...patents & copyright laws, oh my!

Comments

Use PNG instead!

[Frater 219]

Instead of continuing to use the old, limited, patent-encumbered GIF format, you should consider using PNG. PNG is a free (speech) format which offers the benefits of GIF without the drawbacks.

Like GIF, PNG offers lossless compression: you won't find the ugly square artifacts you get in JPEGs. However, PNG also offers a wider range of bit depths (1-bit through 24-bit), an alpha channel, and gamma information.

(For those who don't know: An alpha channel is a fourth number attached to each pixel, alongside the red, green, and blue values. It tells how transparent that pixel is to be considered. Most browsers and graphics tools don't support alpha yet, but they will. Gamma information helps different computers, with different display characteristics, render an image in the same real-world colors.)

Re:Weirdness

[boutell]

At last, a really smart question on this thread.
There's been a lot of clueless commentary about
copyrights (which are irrelevant).

We recently received a copy of a message from
Unisys to a potential academic GD 1.5 user,
who wanted to enable the LZW_LICENCED option
in GD 1.5. They were informed that, although
they would normally be permitted a free
license for LZW, the use of unauthorized
source code (GD) would expose them to
possible legal action.

We withdrew GD and communicated with Unisys.
We determined that their license terms would
not allow free distribution of source code
for LZW. So we withdrew GD indefinitely until
an all-JPEG-and-PNG version can be created,
which shouldn't take long, with the support
of outside volunteers (that's your cue).

"So why not just go back to run-length-encoded
GIF images in GD?"

Because (a) it's an interesting legal question
whether anything an LZW decoder can decode
is an infringement of the patent or not, and
we don't have a whole lot of dough for legal
fees; and (b) they are big (although the
code for generating them is extremely clever
and I don't mean to criticize the folks at
Hutchison Software Corporation who came up
with the stuff).

"What about decompression?"

All versions of GD contain GIF decompression
support. Some people believe the patent does not
apply to LZW decompression when LZW compression
is not present. Again, this is subject to legal
interpretation, and we are a small company
without a whole lot of dough for legal fees.

"What about your company's internal use of
GD in its products?"

Our products use GD 1.3, on the strength of the
legal arguments above for RLE compression and
for decompression in the absence of compression.
We do this in our own products knowing that
there are a reasonable number of copies out
there for which we can afford to accept legal
responsibility.

For the general public's use of GD, we can't
possibly accept potential liability for untold
zillions of applications.

So, we are working toward a PNG-and-JPEG,
100% open-source version of GD, and we invite
your participation. This will be a version that
does not expose us to legal risk we can't afford,
and which produces better-compressed images
for the end user. I urge everyone following
the controversy to support this option.