[Cialug] Free Academic License... Not..

[Todd Pierce]

Hello Experts on Everything,

So, this is barely relevant besides that it's one of these things that run
on Linux/MySQL, but still, it has some licensing issues that some of you
may have run into (and perhaps gotten around).

There is this great software called Pathway Tools
<http://bioinformatics.ai.sri.com/ptools/> used to access a fabulous gene
and metabolic pathways database called BioCyc <http://biocyc.org/>.  The
database is free but the Lisp API requires a free academic license.

The academic license requires you to be a member of an academic or
non-profit organization.  As has worked in the past, I made a case that I
am an independent developer not working in a commercial capacity but the
BioCyc guys didn't go for it.

I'd hate to give up so easily.  Should I take a class at the local
university and con them into using the software?  Find a biology student to
help?  Escalate it to higher people at SRI <https://www.sri.com/> who make
the stuff?  Start a non-profit?  Do you guys know anybody who is part of a
biology oriented non-profit organization who would share their software?

-Todd