> On Sat, Jan 18, 2025 at 9:15 AM Darik Horn via Freedos-devel > <freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > > > > The 7za.exe binary is encumbered by UnRAR, which has a reverse > > engineering restriction. All others are at the DFSG level. > > > > A copyright and licensing manifest for the 7zip-24.09 release is available > > here: > > > > * https://sources.debian.org/src/7zip/24.09%2Bdfsg-3/debian/copyright/
I looked further into the UnRar "reverse engineering restriction" issue. I found the UnRAR source from RARLAB, Alexander Roshal's website: https://www.rarlab.com/rar_add.htm The UnRAR source is in a tar.gz file. That contains a license.txt file which says: (omitting some extra text at top and bottom of the file) > The source code of UnRAR utility is freeware. This means: > > 1. All copyrights to RAR and the utility UnRAR are exclusively > owned by the author - Alexander Roshal. > > 2. UnRAR source code may be used in any software to handle > RAR archives without limitations free of charge, but cannot be > used to develop RAR (WinRAR) compatible archiver and to > re-create RAR compression algorithm, which is proprietary. > Distribution of modified UnRAR source code in separate form > or as a part of other software is permitted, provided that > full text of this paragraph, starting from "UnRAR source code" > words, is included in license, or in documentation if license > is not available, and in source code comments of resulting package. > > 3. The UnRAR utility may be freely distributed. It is allowed > to distribute UnRAR inside of other software packages. > > 4. THE RAR ARCHIVER AND THE UnRAR UTILITY ARE DISTRIBUTED "AS IS". > NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. YOU USE AT > YOUR OWN RISK. THE AUTHOR WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DATA LOSS, > DAMAGES, LOSS OF PROFITS OR ANY OTHER KIND OF LOSS WHILE USING > OR MISUSING THIS SOFTWARE. > > 5. Installing and using the UnRAR utility signifies acceptance of > these terms and conditions of the license. > > 6. If you don't agree with terms of the license you must remove > UnRAR files from your storage devices and cease to use the > utility. Item #2 is a really stupid license term. By adding that restriction, no one can use UnRar source code to make a new program that writes RAR files. I don't often criticize other developers, but I'll say it: this is an incredibly dumb license addition. That is not "open source" at all. But, in FreeDOS 1.3, we included Igor Pavlov's 7zip <https://sourceforge.net/projects/sevenzip/> which is where the latest version 24.09 comes from. And that has the "unRAR license restriction" too. So while I think this is a really dumb license addition for the UnRAR source, I suppose it's okay to include this package in 1.4. I'm not happy about it, but I guess it's consistent with what we did in 1.3. Users who only *run* 7za.exe aren't modifying the source code; developers who choose to work with the code will find the license restriction on their own. It's also interesting that Debian includes 7zip 24.09, so I assume they reached the same conclusion. I should add: if Darik's Retro7zip could *not* support RAR files (i.e. not link with the UnRAR code) then this problem goes away anyway. Are RAR files really that popular out there? I don't know that I've ever seen a DOS program archived *only* as a RAR file (in the few times I've seen RAR files somewhere, they also had ZIP as an alternative to download ... and ZIP files have been the de facto standard on DOS ever since PKWare published the ZIP format). __ The Debian page you linked to says the other components of this program are covered under several other licenses: > License: LGPL-2.1+ > License: public-domain > License: BSD-3-clause > License: BSD-3-clause > License: LGPL-2.1+ > License: LGPL-2.1+ > License: BSD-3-clause ..and those are all fine. _______________________________________________ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
