On Thu, Sep 02, 2010 at 11:28:54AM +0200, Julien Viard de Galbert wrote: > On Thu, Sep 02, 2010 at 05:03:40AM -0300, Rogério Brito wrote: > > Hi there. > > > > On Sep 01 2010, Stephen Sinclair wrote: > > > I don't have the ability to reverse engineer it and write my own > > > drivers, but I'd still like users of this device to be able to make > > > use of my software. > > > > Right. You can dlopen the library, depending on the case. Your program > > will still be Free, in the same sense that the Linux Kernel is Free. > > You may want to check the license that you will eventually use: I think > > that the GPL wouldn't cut it, but the LGPL might. > > > > > Would such a library have difficulty getting accepted by Debian? > > > > The library, yes. Your program? No, depending on how "dependent" the > > program would be on that library. If the use of said devices is just a > > minor part of the program's role, then it may be accepted into main, > > without any problems. > > > I find it a little confusing, he was first saying he wants to write a > _library_, than can uses a proprietary library. > > What I understand is that his library (the one he want to write) could > be accepted to main if it is useful without the proprietary library > (that can be considered as a hardware driver). Then any program using it > could also go to main (provided that no other dependency would require > it to be contrib or non-free). That's how I understand the situation, FWIW. The whole thing might become a bit clearer with a real example of a library that is already in Debian main, and that may optionally use another library that is not in Debian. Take a look at the libdvdread4 package, and specifically at how /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/README.Debian documents its relationship with the libdvdcss library which is not in Debian. The libdvdread4 library is useful even without libdvdcss, but its operation is enhanced by libdvdcss's presence on the system. So, basically, yes, this is acceptable, and that's exactly how it is done. > > OTOH, if it needs the library, then the most that you would be able to > > do with your program would be to go into contrib. > > Of course if the proprietary library is necessary then his library goes > to contrib as well as any program depending on it. > > Also I think I've read somewhere that no library really enter debian > unless a program requires it. (which kind of makes sense). > > Tell me if I'm wrong, I'm currently learning debian practices. IMHO you're right :) G'luck, Peter -- Peter Pentchev roam@space.bg roam@ringlet.net roam@FreeBSD.org PGP key: http://people.FreeBSD.org/~roam/roam.key.asc Key fingerprint FDBA FD79 C26F 3C51 C95E DF9E ED18 B68D 1619 4553 Hey, out there - is it *you* reading me, or is it someone else?
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