This is the Debian GNU/Linux prepacked version of the octave-sp package. It is based on semidef-oct which is itself a port to Octave by A. S. Hodel of the semidef package by Lieven Vandenberghe and Stephen Boyd . This package was put together by Dirk Eddelbuettel from the sources at ftp://ftp.eng.auburn.edu/pub/hodel/semidef-oct.tar.gz Also included were two Octave script files (run_cmd.m, prompt.m) from his OCST package that is available as ftp://ftp.eng.auburn.edu/pub/hodel/OCST-980904.tar.gz Some minor changes were made which are documented in the file /usr/share/doc/octave-sp/changelog.Debian.gz. The semidef package contains the following statement in the file COPYRIGHT: COPYRIGHT 1994 LIEVEN VANDENBERGHE AND STEPHEN BOYD Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose without fee is hereby granted, provided that this entire notice is included in all copies of any software which is or includes a copy or modification of this software and in all copies of the supporting documentation for such software. This software is being provided "as is", without any express or implied warranty. In particular, the authors do not make any representation or warranty of any kind concerning the merchantability of this software or its fitness for any particular purpose. The additional code by A. S. Hodel is released under the GNU GPL. On a Debian GNU/Linux systems, the complete text of GNU General Public License can be found in the file /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL.