Re: [hatari-devel] Things still remaining before v1.8 release?

[Teemu Hukkanen <tjhukkan@xxxxxx>]

Nicolas Pomarède <npomarede@xxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

> Le 01/08/2014 00:06, Teemu Hukkanen a écrit :
>> Nicolas Pomarède <npomarede@xxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>>> Have you tried building it with capslibrary ? It would require to create
>>> a package for capslibrary 4.2 too, but it could be interesting to have
>>> this under debian/ubuntu too.
>>
>> The IPF support library is not Free Software, and cannot be distributed
>> by Debian or Ubuntu. The license only allows usage for non-profit
>> purposes, and does not allow modification of any kind (which would be
>> required for packaging). This is on top of not having access to the
>> source code (or being able to modify it, and distribute modifications).
>
> Sources for 4.2 are available (look in the kryoflux forum, I don't 
> remember the exact location) and the licence is base on MAME's licence, 
> allowing distribution for non profit and modifications as long as 
> sources are provided.
> So this is not as proprietary software as you describe it.
>
> Sources for 5.1 are not available on their download page yet, but they 
> were also posted in the kryoflux forum.

The license in the downloads at the site listed in hatari's readme.txt,
<http://www.softpres.org/> was what I was reading, and assumed that it
was correct.

Giving access to the source code is a step in the right direction, but
the new licensing terms are still problematic. The license in the
spsdeclib_5.1_source.zip file, available at <http://www.kryoflux.com/>,
retains the limitation on non-profit use (although the wording is
different). This alone means that it cannot be included in Debian, as it
does not satisfy the "Free Redistribution" of the Debian Free Software
Guidelines <https://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines>.

Additionally, the license states: "Modifications must still satisfy the
Purpose.", with the Purpose defined earlier in the license as:

---clip---
The purpose ("Purpose") of the SPS DECODER LIBRARY ("CLL", "CAPSImage",
"CAPSImg", etc.) is to enable third party software to use The Software
Preservation Society Interchangeable Preservation Format ("IPF"),
Software Preservation Society Capture Tool RAW ("CT RAW", "RAW") and
KryoFlux STREAM ("KF STREAM", "RAW") format files as produced by e.g.
The Software Preservation Analyser, KryoFlux - High Definition Flux
Sampler for USB or KryoFlux FREE.
---clip---

This means that the software cannot be modified to do anything outside
of the stated Purpose, and while any modifications would be up for
interpretation of the Purpose, the real kicker comes later:

"Any file formats other than those listed under Purpose must not be
enabled through the SPS DECODER LIBRARY."

As an example, someone wants to add support for the .ST disk image
format to the library. That would not be allowed under the license.

To sum up, even after a license change, the CAPS library is not Free
Software.