Re: Freely distributable non-free packages
On 7 Dec 1998, Jim Pick wrote:
>
> "Jaldhar H. Vyas" <jaldhar@braincells.com> writes:
>
> > > -wwwcount
> >
> > AFAIK wwwcount should be *+ not -. The only reason we put it in non-free
> > is that it uses GIFs hence the LZW patent. (something I'm slowly in the
> > process of remedying.)
>
> That seems a bit silly and extreme. There are lots of packages in our
> main distribution that include gifs. 3265 .gif files, to be exact.
> Even the Linux kernel source comes with a .gif file.
>
> I would agree with not putting a package with gifs into the main
> distribution if it required the use of a non-free package in order to
> build it. But as far as supplying a prebuilt .gif file with a
> package, I wouldn't be too concerned about it.
It CREATES a gif image to display, that makes it fall under the UNISYS
patent. Stuff that views gifs is okay.
--
Scott K. Ellis <storm@gate.net> http://www.gate.net/~storm/
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