Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2002 23:02:52 +0100 (CET)
To: fluka-discuss@cern.ch
Subject: FLUKA: Fluka expiration
Dear FLUKA users,
as you unfortunately know, the current FLUKA version has expired. We came to this unconfortable situation for reasons that are outside our direct control, and we regret the incovenience that is caused to many users. We are now preparing both a temporary solution and a long term one that needs, however, some time.
The FLUKA development, which has been carried on for many years mostly by INFN researchers as a part of their INFN activity, became a fully recognized INFN project since September 2001 (responsible Giuseppe Battistoni, INFN - Milan). Meanwhile, FLUKA has been downloaded and used from all over the world, and expecially from CERN. Despite this, the CERN management has up to now delayed any decision on the official recognition of and support for the code. A letter from the INFN management asking CERN to clarify its position towards the use and intellectual property of an INFN product is waiting for an answer since almost two years.
This ambiguity, and the rising number of users/applications, urges the INFN-FLUKA collaboration to revise its distribution policy. The www server is going to be moved on a dedicated INFN server starting from tomorrow: the present site will be redirected to the new one. The new server, currently http://pcfluka.mi.infn.it, will become www.fluka.org as soon as the registration procedure will be completed and should be operational with renewed versions (see below) within tomorrow.
The download procedure will be better defined and polished. A download agreement will be prepared, containing a standard disclaimer asking the users to be aware that the code is provided ``as it is'' and with no warranty or liability whatsoever for INFN and/or the authors.
A two-way download procedure will be setup. Normal users will continue to get a version with a 2 years lifetime, while for CERN users a final clarification from the management is needed before defining the download procedure. We kindly ask all CERN users to use the code only if they really need it urgently. At present, its use at CERN is not encouraged by the CERN management, and it is allowed only courtesy of INFN. We are aware of at least three sectors which could be badly impacted, the RP group, the Alice experiment, and targetry and beam dump activities for the CERN accelerators. All these groups have been active supporters and fans of the code and our work, and their needs are ``by definition'' urgent ones until the CERN management will clarify the issue.
While we are (technically) working on this setting, we are aware that people needs to continue working. Therefore, we will prepare a temporary version, with two months validity (no difference with the present one), which will be on the INFN server tomorrow (actually we are moving the files just now). In a couple of weeks, the new procedure should be in place allowing all external users to have again an up-to-date, fully functional version of the code.