On Wed, Jul 07, 2004 at 12:22:09PM +0100, Edmund GRIMLEY EVANS wrote: > > I put xtrs in contrib because without the ROM (or a DFSG-free OS for the > > TRS-80 Model 4P, which doesn't exist or at the very least isn't packaged), > > the only thing it will do is display an error message that no ROM was > > found. > > > > My thinking is that we need to not be pulling any bait-and-switches on our > > users. If I were to "apt-get install xtrs" from main, I'd expect it to do > > something more than throw up an error message. > > > > In summary, the decision to put emulators that are largely or completely > > inoperable without supplementary materials (from non-free, or not provided > > by Debian at all), is not wholly compelled by the "100% Free Software" > > portion of the Social Contract. It's also motivated by the "We will be > > guided by the needs of our users" part. > > Could you explain how you think the "emulator and ROM" situation is > different from the "media player and media file" situation, if you > think it is?
I think there's a fairly significant difference between an emulator that will load and display an "insert ROM" image (eg. NES, SNES), and one that requires a specific non-free image in order to be able to do anything at all (eg. PSX BIOS images). The first is analogous to requiring media; you see what the console displays if a cartridge isn't inserted. The second is the same as requiring a non-free library for which there is no free replacement. (I'm not aware of any free replacement PSX BIOSes.) I get the feeling that the "TRS-80 Model 4P" ROM is in the latter category. -- Glenn Maynard