Re: gimp1.2: gimp package suggest non-free software
Don Armstrong <don@donarmstrong.com> a tapoté :
>
>> 2) Why the gimp cannot any longer save gif files without installing
>> non-free software?
>
> The software itself is free, but the algorithm necessary to save GIF
> files (LZW) is patent encumbered in certain parts of the planet, and
> the patent is actively being enforced (or at least bludgeoned.)
I am pretty aware of the details of this patent. But it was said in
many places that it was possible to make GIF files without using
LZW. It means that LZW is not an algorigthm necessary to save GIF
files, but to get an optimum compression, which is not a priority
here.
Does this situation changed?
<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html>
It is also possible to create GIFs using a patent-free run
length encoding but this doesn't achieve the compression that
one normally expects in a GIF.
If not, why incitating people to get non-free stuff while you just can
provide a Gimp that can save GIF without LZW?
--
Mathieu Roy
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