[ Re-forwarding this as the original bounced. It looks like the text at http://www.debian.org/devel/tech-ctte needs to be updated - I PGP-signed the first copy of this yet it was still rejected. ] On Tue, Apr 04, 2006 at 12:49:33PM +0100, Ian Jackson wrote: >Steve, thanks for bringing this matter to our attention. I've looked >at the bug log and a summary seems to be: > > * cdrtools's Makefiles as distributed by upstream (Joerg Schilling) > do not have a GPL-compatible licence, although the rest of the > code generally claims to be GPL'd > * there is some argument by Joerg Schilling that this is somehow not > incompatible with the rest of the code being GPL'd, perhaps under > some peculiarities of German law > * there are some other strangenesses of cdrtools's licensing Yes, that agrees with my own understanding of the issues. >Although the maintainer of cdrtools is Joerg Jaspert, Steve McIntyre >and Eduard Bloch are listed in `Uploaders', and Steve made the last >three maintainer uploads. > >So I think Steve means to pass this hot potato, which he thinks is his >decision, to the TC. Note that Eduard has already said he doesn't >want to be involved any more, and Joerg Jaspert has not participated >in the extensive discussion. Steve, am I right ? Correct. >Joerg, do you object to the TC making this decision ? > >On the merits, the correct course seems clear. cdrtools should be >removed due for licensing problems at least until GPL-compatible >Makefiles can be provided. I believe that Eduard has already come up with a GPL-compatible build system to use with cdrtools, but he is nervous of the possible consequences of applying such a patch. Joerg Schilling has apparently been getting threatening in email discussion over the last few days; there is a long German thread on this in the alioth pkg-cdrtools-devel mailing list. In the face of such an aggressive upstream author with strong and controversial opinions about the GPL, forking may be a difficult option. Complete removal from Debian might be a better option, but I'd like some other opinions on this before we go to such lengths. -- Steve McIntyre, Cambridge, UK. steve@einval.com Google-bait: Debian does NOT ship free CDs. Please do NOT contact the mailing lists asking us to send them to you. ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Steve McIntyre, Cambridge, UK. steve@einval.com Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky, Tongue-tied & twisted, Just an earth-bound misfit, I...
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