I think we should add some text to our file upload page and to our Copyrights page, regarding the source code of graphics/images.
I'm talking about graphics/images that were created by a program based on some textual input. Examples are images created by raytracers like POV-Ray, graphs of functions created with octave, mathematical illustrations created with Maple, 3-d pictures of molecules created with rasmol etc. Basically, any image/graphic that was not created by somebody painting with a mouse on the screen, but by feeding some text into a program.
(The same would also apply to midi sound files that were automatically created from music scores.)
The GFDL insists that a "transparent copy [...] that is suitable for revising the document straightforwardly" be made available to all users. While the GFDL explicitly lists png as an admissable transparent format, I don't think this follows the spirit of "transparent" for these types of images. The GPL uses a definition which clearly rules out png's in these cases: "the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it."
So one could make a case that the the spirit of the GFDL requires that the source text of images be made available. In any case, I think it is important for Wiki purposes to have source code available, to facilitate modification of all content. We should simply tell uploaders to list the software and source text they used on the image description page.
Axel
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