Distribution conditions

Introduction

The distribution of WHAT IF is possible if some conditions are met. The first and main condition is to sign the distribution contract. This contract is written in legal language, and not very clear for normal mortals.

I therefore give here a list of the things that I had in mind when this contract was written. This list is not binding, the official contract is, but well ....

The main thing is that WHAT IF is my program. I worked on it for a long time, and I am willing to do so in the future. However, it will stay my program. You got a copy, you may even make changes in it, but it stays my program. You may keep your changes secret if you want, but if not, you are not free to redistribute them. I do not want the same to happen with WHAT IF as what happened with FRODO. There will be one central copy of WHAT IF, and not a version of mister X, a version from the university of Y, etc.

Of course you are not allowed to redistribute, or commercialize WHAT IF, or any parts of it in any way.

You are free to use WHAT IF for any kind of research you want. If you obtain results with WHAT IF which help you to generate lots of money, well, that is nice for you. No strings are attached to the usage of the program, and I do not claim a percentage of the profits.

I hope that users use the so-called bug-form to report errors, mistakes, etc. and to make suggestions.

Please don't call me, or write letters. Use bitnet, or use the bug-forms. If every user calls me once per month, I will be on the phone for the rest of my life.

If you have a nice program which you would like me to incorporate, send me the code (remove all copyright statements, and explicitly mention that the soft-ware is public domain or written for incorporation in WHAT IF). If you are lucky, I like the code, and incorporate it for you. If you are not lucky, I don't.

If you fixed something, please send me the fixed code, so it can go in the central version too.

In all cases where you write code for WHAT IF which should go into the main version, please leave your name and address, etc. in that code. This way you get the honour (blaim?) for it. Your code will however become my property, and fall under the general distribution rules. This way you are covered against liability claims etc.

If you write code for WHAT IF, please stick to the WHAT IF coding rules.

If you intend to do lots of work on a part of the program, please contact me first, this way we prevent that things are being done twice...

If you have a program which you do not want to become part of WHAT IF, but you nevertheless want it to be incorporated via an interface (like GROMOS, DSSP, GRID, ARTPLOT, etc.) you can ask me about that. If the software you are offering is good, not extremely expensive, and I get a free copy with source codes, than I will promiss not to redistribute, and write the interface.