VPython is written primarily in C++ and compiled with the g++ compiler. It does have a number of components from other projects.
Developing VPython uses a number of different tools, not all of which will be familiar to all developers.
Boost: a standard set of C++ libraries. Most Boost libraries consist of inline functions and templates in header files.
Enthought: a company selling to scientific Python users. EPD (Enthought Python Distribution) and Canopy (desktop environment) have free and commericial versions.
GCC: Gnu Compiler Collection, which includes the gcc compiler and gcov coverage/profiler tool.
GStreamer: An open multimedia library for contructing, chaining, and playing media.
GTK+: a multi-platform GUI and widget toolkit, sometimes known as the GIMP Toolkit. Related libraries include gtkmm (C++ interfaces for GTK+ and Gnome), GtkGLExt (extensions for OpenGL), and GtkGLExtMM (C++ interface to GtkGLExt).
Markdown: A typesetter format that produces html files from md files. Note that GitHub automatically renders markdown files.
NumPy: a Python package for scientific computing. It includes N-dimensional array objects, good random numbers, and linear algebra tools.
OpenGL: A cross-platform, multi-language API for 2D and 3D vector graphics.
Polygon 2: A 2D polygon package with useful operators and bindings to the General Polygon Clipping Library (GPC). Has a complex license.
Travis CI: a hosted continuous integration service that builds and runs tests according to the configuration in ./.travis.yml. A build is initiated for each commit or pull-request posted to GitHub. Each build creates a log, updates a small graphic at the top left of the main project's README.md, and emails the author of the commit if any tests fail.
WxPython: a cross-platform Python library for the Wx GUI and widget kit. It blends Python with wrappers for the wxWidgets C++ class libraries. This library compares with the TkInter library wrapping Tcl/Tk and either PySide or PyQt wrapping Qt. Selection among GUI libraries is often made based on the licenses.
xvfb: A minimal virtual framebuffer for X Windows that is used in testing.
README.md: user readme file in markdown format, also used as the project discription on GitHub.
DEVELOP.md: This file; information for new VPython developers.
The rest of the files in the root directory are related to builds. These include:
- INSTALL.TXT: documentation for building on Linux.
- MAC-OSX.TXT: documentation for building on OS/X 10.6+
- MSWINDOWS.TXT: obsolete documentation for building on MS-Windows. See VCBuild/VCBuild.txt instead.
- compilevisual.py: a program which will force creation of .pyc files for Visual modules.
- MakeVPython*.iss: Inno Setup configurations for bundling MS-Windows versions.
- .travis.yml: the configuration file for Travis CI, which builds on a generic Linux machine on each GitHub commit.
These are the subdirectories off the root:
- include/: C++ header files.
- src/: a makefile and C++ source files
- tests/: contains a simple integration test
- site-packages/: the visual and vidle Python modules.
- VCBuild/: build files for MS-Windows.
VPython consists of a number of components with distinct licenses. The Visual Library uses a simple, but custom, attribution license. The Polygon Library contains two licenses: the Lesser Gnu Public Library (LGPL) of an unspecified version and an additional license for the incorporated Generic Polygon Library which prohibits commericial use without an additional license. The num_util.* files use the derivative Boost Software License while site-packages/visual_common/shapes.py is released under the Blender Artistic License which requires some documentation of changes. NumPy uses the attribution NumPy License. There are likely other licenses lurking about as well.
In short, it should be fine to use for non-commerical use.