Vintage NASA software available

From: Eric J. Korpela <korpela_at_ssl.berkeley.edu>
Date: Fri Oct 26 14:31:56 2001

> I'm a little confused. If this software was developed by NASA to begin with
> and is unclassified, shouldn't it be in the public domain anyway, having
> been developed with taxpayer dollars?

Not necessarily. Making software public costs time and money. Much of the
software developed by NASA really doesn't have widespread application.
Some of it is too sensitive for release, such as the onboard software
for HST. Some of it is subject to export restrictions. Some of it is
classified.

Eric
Received on Fri Oct 26 2001 - 14:31:56 BST