Does NASA license the software that it develops?
- by Abe
NASA provides a visualization software called Panoply. There is a Credits and Acknowledgments page that acknowledges and lists the licenses of software dependencies, but provides no information about its own license.
I have looked at other software produced by NASA, including the source code for GISS and can not find any information about a licence.
The closest information that I can find is in the FAQ for the global climate model EdGCM Global that says the code is in the "public domain"
is it standard practice at NASA to release code into the public domain?
are there exceptions?
Can I assume that Panoply is public domain and can be used without restriction other than than those imposed by licenses of software dependencies?
Is the absence of specific permission to reuse the code a concern (this issue was raised in the answer to a separate question)
How common is this practice across government agencies?
