From: merkle@parc.xerox.com (Ralph Merkle)
Newsgroups: sci.nanotech
Subject: Mopac
Date: 23 Jan 93 03:39:29 GMT

I'm forwarding this information on Mopac.  Mopac 6 is the current
commonly available version of Mopac, while this announcement provides
information about Mopac 7.  Mopac does semiempirical calculations on
a wide range of molecular structures (including those of interest
in nanotechnology).  It's major limitation is the number of atoms
that can be handled, which is "typically" around 20 to 40 (though
it's often used with more, you just have to be patient or have a Cray).

For a wide range of computational chemistry software, contact
QCPE, the Quantum Chemistry Program Exchange, Creative Arts Building 181,
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405
phone:  812-855-4784
fax:    812-855-5539

Fortran source for Mopac is available by anonymous FTP from some sites.
----------------------------------------------------


From osc.edu!chemistry-request Mon Oct 26 15:50:08 1992
X-Original-Return-Path: <jstewart@fai.com>
X-NS-Transport-ID: 08002008D0FD002F226B
Date:	Mon, 26 Oct 1992 03:13:59 -0800
From:	jstewart@fai.com (Dr. James Stewart)
Subject: Details of MOPAC-7 Release
To:	chemistry@osc.edu
Content-Length: 3592


         Details of the Release of MOPAC-7


  Until now, MOPAC has been public-domain software. 

  After I left the Seiler Research Laboratory, and became a private 
consultant, it became inevitable that MOPAC would become a commercial 
product.  Under an agreement with Fujitsu, MOPAC-7 has been developed.
Initially, our plan was to sell MOPAC-7, and get a reasonable return on
our investment.  However, some researchers made the point that, as 
MOPAC had become widely available, it now no longer `belonged' to any 
one person or organization.  In recognition of this, Fujitsu decided to 
distribute MOPAC-7 through QCPE to end-users, both academic and industrial.

  We finally decided on the following arrangements:

 1.  MOPAC-7 will come in two forms: MOPAC-7 (public domain),
     and MOPAC-7.

 2.  MOPAC-7 (public domain) will consist of MOPAC 6 plus all
     donated code plus essential bug fixes.  We hope this satisfies
     the ethical imperative that we do not take commercial advantage
     of freely donated code or ideas.

 3.  MOPAC-7 will consist of MOPAC-7 (public domain) plus work
     commissioned by Fujitsu. MOPAC-7 will be protected by copyright.

 4.  Both MOPAC-7 and MOPAC-7 (public domain) will be distributed
     through the Quantum Chemistry Program Exchange.  The cost of 
     both programs from QCPE will be the normal QCPE cost.

 5.  In order to receive MOPAC-7, users will be required to sign a
     non-distribution licence.

 6.  MOPAC-7 will consist of source code, command files, test-data,
     and hard-copy manual.

 7.  Users can modify the source code, port the source code to new
     platforms, and in general make whatever changes they want,
     provided the copyright notices are not altered.
     
 8.  All donated code will be acknowledged.  Some donors will be
     referred to as `authors' in the current version.

 9.  Organizations who want to modify MOPAC-7, and distribute the
     resulting modified code, will need to obtain a special license,
     in which case they should contact:

                Kumiko Iguchi
                Manager, New Business Development
                Applications Software Planning
                Information Systems Division
                Fujitsu America, Inc
                3041 Orchard Parkway, San Jose
                CA 95134-2022
                
               Tel 408 988 8012 x  226
               FAX 408 492 1982

10.  The anticipated date of release of MOPAC-7 in January 1993.

We now recognise that MOPAC is truly a cooperative development.  Authors
in MOPAC-7 include researchers in Ireland, Japan, the Ukraine, and Israel, 
as well as from the United States.  In recognition of the changing 
status of MOPAC, many of the older, very informal, arrangements have had
to be changed.  For example, donors must formally agree to allow their 
contributions to be placed into the public domain, and ported copies of 
MOPAC must satisfy tests before they can be distributed.  To a large 
degree, one effect of these changes is to allow us to increase quality control
over the program.   Because users are not allowed to distribute their 
improvements without a special license (see 9 above), a mechanism is 
being developed to allow their improvements to be included in the next 
public domain release of MOPAC.



     James J. P. Stewart

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