man, 27 04 2009 kl. 12:27 +0200, skrev Kern Sibbald: > Hello, > > On Monday 27 April 2009 09:48:42 Simon Holm Thøgersen wrote: > > søn, 26 04 2009 kl. 21:43 +0200, skrev Kern Sibbald: > > > On Sunday 26 April 2009 20:01:28 Simon Holm Thøgersen wrote: > > > > Attempting to cross-compile Bacula for Windows I ran into the need for > > > > the VSS headers. I could download them from Microsoft, but it would be > > > > much more convenient for everyone if they were part of the Bacula > > > > source. > > > > > > > > I'd like to do the work required to make this possible, if somebody > > > > could outline a method that would make it eligible for distribution > > > > with Bacula. Any ideas? > > > > > > Well, the microsoft VSS headers and a few source files cannot be > > > redistributed. This is pointed out in our LICENSE agreement. They can > > > be downloaded, compiled and the resulting binaries may be distributed > > > with the code in them. Thus for the moment, there is no way we can > > > release them. One of the problems is that we are running on a very old > > > version of the VSS code, but which still works perfectly fine. > > > > > > One thing I have always wanted to do, but we just have never found time > > > for it, is to rewrite the code from scratch ourselves -- much like mingw > > > is written, then they could be freely distributed. In fact, certain of > > > the header files seem to be already available on the net, but without any > > > copyright. > > > > > > If someone such as yourself could make an Open Source version of the > > > Microsoft VSS interface code that we use, we would be very happy to take > > > it. However, not ever having done such a thing, I think it would be > > > necessary to research how to do it in a way that one would not violate > > > their copyright. In otherwords, you cannot just take their code and > > > rewrite it, nor (to the best of my knowledge) look at their code and then > > > write it in a different manner as both of those would possibly be a > > > copyright violation. Perhaps the mingw or the cygwin project could be > > > some help in pointing out appropriate techniques ... > > > > My thought was that perhaps the documentation on MSDN could be used. > > Microsoft has copyright on the content of MSDN of course, but I can't > > really see how it should be possible for any developer to use this > > information for their programs if they... well, can't use it without > > infringing copyrights! > > I believe that it is OK to read their publicly available documentation and > create new files from that. However, we probably should confirm that from > mingw, cygwin, or the Free Software Foundation. Since you are located in > Europe, we have a bit more legal latitude than other parts of the world -- > for example, in the EU it is perfectly legal to reverse engineer a > proprietary program to be able to use its API. I suspect that the API > documentation will contain virtually everything we need -- I just haven't had > the time to look into it, so I am really pleased that this interests you. > I just got a reply [1] on the mingw list that basically says MSDN is what they use and gives [2] as "reference"
[1] http://n2.nabble.com/Headers-for-free-distribution-like-for-win32api-tp2724421p2725427.html [2] http://search.gmane.org/?query=w32api+msdn +published&group=gmane.comp.gnu.mingw.user > > > > Another thought was simply inspecting the Bacula source code and create > > the headers based on that. Getting the values for enumerations and > > constant definitions would still present a challenge though. > > > > I'll contact the mingw developers and hear their opinion. Alternatively, > > I might contact the Free Software Foundation for help. > > OK. > > > > > > With the new EU directive that forced Microsoft to open their specs to > > > the CFIS code, the same directives might apply to VSS as well, or in any > > > case, perhaps Microsoft no longer considers it proprietary and would be > > > willing to make their license a bit less restrictive. > > > > > > Anyway, if you have a desire to resolve this, we are very interested. > > Yes, I have a strong desire to resolve this -- we (me, the Bacula project, > and > Bacula Systems SA) are fully committed to Open Source (or Free Source if you > like). > > Please don't hesitate if you need any help or have questions. > > Also, if you are sure you are going to contribute the replacement header(s), > please go to www.bacula.org -> FSFE License, fill out two copies of the FLA, > and send them to me at the indicated address. > > Thanks for your interest in this. Heh, you kind of replied to yourself here. Anyway, I'll start working on this by reading MSDN documentation and get back when I've got something close to submission. I'll make sure the necessary formalities are in place as well. Simon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Crystal Reports - New Free Runtime and 30 Day Trial Check out the new simplified licensign option that enables unlimited royalty-free distribution of the report engine for externally facing server and web deployment. http://p.sf.net/sfu/businessobjects _______________________________________________ Bacula-devel mailing list Bacula-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-devel
