Re: [proaudio] VirtualANS Synth

2013/11/6 Matt Henley <nwmatt@xxxxxxxxx>

This could be fun... I emailed the author with the following questions:

1.. What license is it released under for Linux?
2. Since it is a binary and not source for installation, we would install it under /opt . What locations are recommened for the files specifically resources.tar, boot.pixicode and pixilang_config.ini and which are actually required for linux?

3. Should resources.tar be untarred and moved to a different location?
4. Have you considered adding version numbers to the file name so that we can know when to install a new version?

Here are his responses:

Hello Matt!
Thank you! :)

1.. I think it is just Freeware :)

Hmm, I just think "Freeware" is a to loose definition... I think something with more text is needed. Could you ask him for a license text? The most important clause is probably that the author cannot be held responsible for any damage caused by the software (it comes without warranty). You can take a look at the MIT license's last clause [1].

We cannot distribute software without license...

2. Possible directories for pixilang_config.ini:
* /home/username/

* Current Working Directory (as i know you can set it by "cd dir_name" command)
And possible directory for resources.tar and boot.pixicode is the Current Working Directory.

3. resources.tar - no, please don't unpack this archive, it is used by Pixilang as binary file.

It seems like a wrapper script is needed to cd into the installation directory, but that should be trivial to create.

4. How about this format: virtual_ans-2.0.zip ? I can make it for you on the site.

Is it OK to automatically download the file (which is what portage does) or should the user visit the page to retrieve the archive manually? That is should the ebuild contain RESTRICT="fetch"?

I am not sure what to do about the license since it doesn't seem to be referenced on his web page.

[1] http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT

Regards,
Karl

On Tue, Nov 5, 2013 at 12:05 PM, Karl Lindén <karl.j.linden@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi!

I am not sure there is a poilicy, but Gentoo does make non-free software available in the same ways as the free software. Feel free to package it and host it in the overlay. However, you should take the following in consideration when packaging it:

1. Make sure the package has a valid license. You should get a license from the homepage or the author and put it in the licenses/ directory in the overlay. After that it is just to specify the license in LICENSE="some-license"

2. Pre-compiled packages should go into /opt.
3. You must not allow the package manager to download the application if that is disallowed by the author. You can handle that with RESTRICT="fetch", if you need to.

Those are the things I can think of now, but I might have missed something.

Cheers,
Karl

2013/11/4 Matt Henley <nwmatt@xxxxxxxxx>

I found an interesting synth for my android phone the other day called VirtualANS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANS_synthesizer ). Going to the authors website ( http://warmplace.ru/soft/ans/ ) I realized that it included a linux version including JACK support. It does not include source or nice a nice installer. I have it running acceptably (command line only so far) but was thinking about what would be required to package it nicely for gentoo. Also.. does proaudio have a policy about non-opensource programs? It is based on pixilang (same author) which includes source and is under MIT license.

Matt