View source for Netlib

{{Short description|Software repository}}
'''Netlib''' is a repository of software for [[scientific computing]] maintained by [[AT&T Inc.|AT&T]], [[Bell Laboratories]], the [[University of Tennessee]] and [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]].<ref>[https://www.netlib.org/misc/faq.html#2.1 Netlib FAQ<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Netlib comprises many separate programs and [[library (computing)|libraries]]. Most of the code is written in [[C (programming language)|C]] and [[Fortran]], with some programs in other languages.

==History==

The project began with [[email]] distribution on [[UUCP]], [[ARPANET]] and [[CSNET]] in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite journal |title= Distribution of mathematical software via electronic mail |author1= [[Jack J. Dongarra]] |author2= Eric Grosse |journal=  Communications |date= May 1987 |volume= 30 |issue= 5 |page= 403 |doi= 10.1145/22899.22904 |citeseerx= 10.1.1.73.7679 |s2cid= 52895937 }}</ref>

The code base of Netlib was written at a time when computer software was not yet considered merchandise. Therefore, no license terms or terms of use are stated for many programs. Before the [[Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works|Berne Convention]] Implementation Act of 1988 (and the earlier [[Copyright Act of 1976]]) works without an explicit [[copyright notice]] were [[public-domain software]]. Also, most of the Netlib code is [[Copyright status of work by the U.S. government|work of US government employees]] and therefore in the [[public domain]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://eprints.maths.manchester.ac.uk/857/01/covered/MIMS_ep2007_123.pdf |title=Netlib and NA-Net: building a scientific computing community |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=30–41 |author=Jack Dongarra |author2=Gene Golub |author3=Eric Grosse |author4=Cleve Moler |author5=Keith Moore |quote=The Netlib software repository was created in 1984 to facilitate quick distribution of public domain software routines for use in scientific computation. |doi=10.1109/MAHC.2008.29 |access-date=2018-05-13 |year=2008 |citeseerx=10.1.1.102.7201 |s2cid=991846 }}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2GPNBQAAQBAJ&dq=netlib+public+domain&pg=PA109 Classical Fortran: Programming for Engineering and Scientific Applications]: "The best known repository of public-domain scientific numerical software is netlib" (2009).</ref> While several packages therefore don't have explicit [[waiver]]/[[anti-copyright]] statements, for instance, the [[SLATEC]] package has an explicit statement.

== Contents ==
Some well-known packages maintained in Netlib are:
*[[AMPL|AMPL Solver Library]] (ASL)
*[[Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms]] (BLAS)
*[[EISPACK]]
*[[LAPACK]]
*[[LINPACK]]
*[[MINPACK]]
*[[QUADPACK]]

The [[SLATEC]] package is special in that it comprises a number of other packages like BLAS and LINPACK.

==Other projects==
*[[GNU Scientific Library]] (GSL), written in C and distributed under the [[GNU General Public License]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.netlib.org www.netlib.org]

[[Category:Numerical software]]
[[Category:Public-domain software with source code]]