Java Model Railroad Interface (JMRI) is an
open source program for model railroad hobbyists, released under
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...
v2. It allows users to control LED lights, horn, or switch the railway of hobbyist open-source or commercials closed-sourced trains.
JMRI is a suite of tools distributed via a single
download
In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...
. The two most popular tools are DecoderPro for programming
Digital Command Control
Digital Command Control (DCC) is a standard for a system for the digital operation of model railways that permits locomotives on the same electrical section of track to be independently controlled.
The DCC protocol is defined by the Digital Comma ...
(DCC) decoders, and PanelPro for controlling layouts.
Starting in 2005, JMRI's project administrator, Bob Jacobsen, was involved in a
legal dispute
Legal proceeding is an activity that seeks to invoke the power of a tribunal in order to enforce a law. Although the term may be defined more broadly or more narrowly as circumstances require, it has been noted that " e term ''legal proceedings'' ...
with Matt Katzer in the
. Significantly, the
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is one of the 13 United States courts of appeals. It has special appellate jurisdiction over certain categories of cases in the U.S. federa ...
ruled that infringing on the copyright of open source software by violating its license terms could result in monetary damages.
The case was settled in early 2010.
"A Big Victory for F/OSS: Jacobsen v. Katzer is Settled"
See also
Jacobsen v. Katzer
References
''FLOSS Weekly 117: Bob Jacobsen for JMRI.org.'' at the
FLOSS Weekly
Leo Laporte (; born November 29, 1956) is the former host of '' The Tech Guy'' weekly radio show and founder of TWiT.tv, an Internet podcast network focusing on technology. He is also a former TechTV technology host (1998–2008) and a technology ...
podcast
A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
, April 20, 2010, retrieved April 22, 2010.
External links
JMRI websiteJMRI's legal defense pageJMRI's page of articles about the Court case
Digital model train control
{{free-software-stub