vc14_runtime License

[JoelStansbury]

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• I added a descriptive title
• I searched open reports and couldn't find a duplicate

What happened?

Hello, I'm not quite sure where the best place to post this is. I have a question / concern regarding the licenses included within installers produced by this tool. I suspect that they (my concerns) can be resolved with documentation, so that is the justification for posting it here.

It is my understanding that all installers will package python which has a dependency on vc14_runtime.

When I explore the .exe archive produced by conda constructor I find a license file located in INSTALLER_NAME.exe\pkgs\vc14_runtime-14.40.33810-ha82c5b3_20.conda\pkg-vc14_runtime-14.40.33810-ha82c5b3_20.tar.zst\pkg-vc14_runtime-14.40.33810-ha82c5b3_20.tar\info\licenses\
Which says that the package may not be shared...

This suggests that sharing the .exe file would be a violation of the vc14_runtime license.

• Am I wrong in my assumption that all .exe files will contain this package?
• Is there some exception that Microsoft has granted for this package?
• Is my interpretation of the license incorrect?
• Can / should the vc14_runtime be explicitly omitted from the included packages via the exclude parameter?

Here is the License file

This file has been converted from the original Microsoft Rich Text
Format document, LICENSE.RTF. It has been provided for your convenience
and should not be considered authoritative.

===

MICROSOFT SOFTWARE LICENSE TERMS

MICROSOFT VISUAL C++ 2019 RUNTIME

These license terms are an agreement between Microsoft Corporation (or
based on where you live, one of its affiliates) and you. They apply to
the software named above. The terms also apply to any Microsoft services
or updates for the software, except to the extent those have different
terms.

IF YOU COMPLY WITH THESE LICENSE TERMS, YOU HAVE THE RIGHTS BELOW.

• INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.

• You may install and use any number of copies of the software.

• TERMS FOR SPECIFIC COMPONENTS.

  • MICROSOFT PLATFORMS. The software may include components from
    Microsoft Windows; Microsoft Windows Server; Microsoft SQL
    Server; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Office; and Microsoft
    SharePoint. These components are governed by separate agreements
    and their own product support policies, as described in the
    Microsoft “Licenses” folder accompanying the software, except
    that, if license terms for those components are also included in
    the associated installation directory, those license terms
    control.

  • THIRD PARTY COMPONENTS.  The software may include third party
    components with separate legal notices or governed by other
    agreements, as may be described in the ThirdPartyNotices file(s)
    accompanying the software. 

• SCOPE OF LICENSE. The software is licensed, not sold. This agreement
  only gives you some rights to use the software. Microsoft reserves
  all other rights. Unless applicable law gives you more rights
  despite this limitation, you may use the software only as expressly
  permitted in this agreement. In doing so, you must comply with any
  technical limitations in the software that only allow you to use it
  in certain ways. You may not

  • work around any technical limitations in the software;

  • reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the software, or
    otherwise attempt to derive the source code for the software
    except, and only to the extent required by third party licensing
    terms governing the use of certain open source components that
    may be included in the software;

  • remove, minimize, block or modify any notices of Microsoft or
    its suppliers in the software;

  • use the software in any way that is against the law; or

  • share, publish, rent or lease the software, or provide the
    software as a stand-alone offering for others to use, or
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• EXPORT RESTRICTIONS. You must comply with all domestic and
  international export laws and regulations that apply to the
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  www.microsoft.com/exporting.

• SUPPORT SERVICES. Because this software is “as is,” we may not
  provide support services for it.

• ENTIRE AGREEMENT. This agreement, and the terms for supplements,
  updates, Internet-based services and support services that you use,
  are the entire agreement for the software and support services.

• APPLICABLE LAW. If you acquired the software in the United States,
  Washington law applies to interpretation of and claims for breach of
  this agreement, and the laws of the state where you live apply to
  all other claims. If you acquired the software in any other country,
  its laws apply.

• CONSUMER RIGHTS; REGIONAL VARIATIONS. This agreement describes
  certain legal rights. You may have other rights, including consumer
  rights, under the laws of your state or country. Separate and apart
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  respect to the party from which you acquired the software. This
  agreement does not change those other rights if the laws of your
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  acquired the software in one of the below regions, or mandatory
  country law applies, then the following provisions apply to you:

  • AUSTRALIA. You have statutory guarantees under the Australian
    Consumer Law and nothing in this agreement is intended to affect
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  • CANADA. If you acquired this software in Canada, you may stop
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  • GERMANY AND AUSTRIA.

    (i) WARRANTY. The properly licensed software will perform
    substantially as described in any Microsoft materials that
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  • Subject to the foregoing clause (ii), Microsoft will only be
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    "cardinal obligations"). In other cases of slight negligence,
    Microsoft will not be liable for slight negligence.

• DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY. THE SOFTWARE IS LICENSED “AS-IS.” YOU BEAR
  THE RISK OF USING IT. MICROSOFT GIVES NO EXPRESS WARRANTIES,
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  LAWS, MICROSOFT EXCLUDES THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
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• LIMITATION ON AND EXCLUSION OF DAMAGES. YOU CAN RECOVER FROM
  MICROSOFT AND ITS SUPPLIERS ONLY DIRECT DAMAGES UP TO U.S. $5.00.
  YOU CANNOT RECOVER ANY OTHER DAMAGES, INCLUDING CONSEQUENTIAL, LOST
  PROFITS, SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES.

  This limitation applies to (a) anything related to the software,
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  third party applications; and (b) claims for breach of contract,
  breach of warranty, guarantee or condition, strict liability,
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  It also applies even if Microsoft knew or should have known about
  the possibility of the damages. The above limitation or exclusion
  may not apply to you because your country may not allow the
  exclusion or limitation of incidental, consequential or other
  damages.

Additional Context

As far as I can tell vc14_runtime is a dependency of python, so it would be included in any installer produced via constructor.
vc14_runtime looks to be an exception in the vc feedstock repository https://github.com/conda-forge/vc-feedstock/tree/main?tab=readme-ov-file#about-vc14_runtime, all other packages produced in this feedstock appear to be licensed as BSD.

[JoelStansbury]

Here is the section.

You may not.
...
share, publish, rent or lease the software, or provide the
software as a stand-alone offering for others to use, or
transfer the software or this agreement to any third party.

Reading it now it isn't clear to me if we are allowed to "share" only if it is not being shared as a "stand-alone offering",
Or if we are never allowed to "share", but we could "provide" the package so long as we are not providing it as a "stand-alone offering"

[marcoesters]

Thanks for the report! It is correct that constructor requires python. The packages and their dependencies are pulled from the repositories that are put into the channels property in the construct.yaml.

constructor is not responsible for the licenses of these packages though. For these questions, please contact the feedstock maintainer, in this case conda-forge. Please open an issue at their repository about this question. Thanks!