On 05/10/12 15:58, Marc J. Driftmeyer wrote:
Well that's too bad the licensing restrictions the way they are with faac and
mp4v2.
One can only assume Debian wants to shield itself against possible patent
infringement.
much more than shield itself ... one of the core goals behind debian is that
everything it contains should be re-distributable by anyone receiving it as free
software, _with_ the licenses and conditions that give the recipient that right,
and explain their obligations, fully documented for every file.
That means, for example, that all kinds of institutions (which have substantial
assets hence are vulnerable to being sued) feel comfortable mirroring it, and
comfortable using it. And that there is a functional system which remains safe
from legal challenges which others can build on if they want.
That work ... ensuring that the whole system has properly documented licenses
... is a large part of the packaging effort, and certainly means some
functionality will be missing, but also is a huge contribution to the viability
of free software in general.
So here is a handbrake that is re-distributable in a well documented way, and
the way ahead to adapt it so that more functionality is re-distributable is clear.
Other versions you may choose to replace it with on your own system are of
course your own responsibility, if you run into problems you can always fall
back on the official version.
Simon
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