[Savannah-register-public] [task #10258] Submission of Formatted Actuarial Vignettes in R

[Benedict Escoto]

Follow-up Comment #3, task #10258 (project administration):

Thank you Mario for reviewing my project so closely.  Firstly, I have to
apologize about using the phrase "open source".  I did read your guidelines
and am well aware of the whole "open source" vs "free software" debate, and I
actually agree with the free software people.  I just committed a typo on this
one occasion.

About the GNU Free Documentation License, I was thinking that the GPL would
be sufficient, because Reserving.Rnw is source code.  As it says on
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html:

-----------------------
Can I use the GPL for something other than software?

    You can apply the GPL to any kind of work, as long as it is clear what
constitutes the “source code” for the work. The GPL defines this as the
preferred form of the work for making changes in it.

    However, for manuals and textbooks, or more generally any sort of work
that is meant to teach a subject, we recommend using the GFDL rather than the
GPL. 
------------------------

The file Reserving.Rnw contains a lot more source code than English text, so
I thought it was necessary to GPL it to preserve the freedoms of the end
user--without the GPL the distinction between the source code and final output
would be lost.

So although the intention is for actuaries to learn from this, the main
intended mechanism is for them to learn R/GNU S by reading the source!  The
actual actuarial content is actually very minor, and already well known to
many actuaries.

I agree it does kind of skirt the line between program (GPL) and paper (GFDL)
but it is more program than paper, and for certain the program aspect will be
the more valuable contribution of the project.  I'm sorry if I didn't explain
this well to begin with and the original purpose of the project was not clear.
 Your comments were very perceptive---I hope this adequately addresses them. 
Let me know what you think!

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