On Fri, Sep 05, 2003 at 03:08:59PM -0400, Matt Zimmerman wrote: > I discussed this situation with the upstream author of tvtime, and I would > appreciate confirmation on a few points: > > 1. Can the binary DLLs go in contrib? The source code is free, but requires > non-free tools (for Windows) in order to build. I believe this is the same > situation that openoffice.org is in (which is in contrib), but I would > appreciate a second opinion. As I understand it, you're correct. If a DFSG-free work has non-free dependencies OR build-dependencies, it cannot go in main, but it can go into contrib. It should not go into non-free if the work itself is DFSG-free. > 2. If the DLLs are included in contrib, I assume that the package must > include the corresponding source code for GPL compliance, even though it > cannot be built on Debian, and would not be touched during the package build > process. Is this correct? I believe the GNU GPL requires this, yes. > 3. tvtime currently distributes its source code together with these binary > modules in a single distribution tarball. I assume this needs to be split > up into separate source packages for main and contrib, so that tvtime itself > can build a binary package for main. Is this correct? I believe you're also correct on this point. * That which is in main must be entirely DFSG-free; * That which is in main must be buildable and usable solely with packages also in main (IOW, main is a "closure"); * The GNU GPL requires that the source code corresponding to the compiled form of a work be provided along with the compiled form, or a written offer, good for three years, must be extended to the recipient of the compiled form. A split of the tvtime upstream distribution is necessary no matter what; but as I understand it, the bit that would go into contrib could be omitted entirely. I presume the maintainer wants to go ahead and provide the contrib components as a service to our users. -- G. Branden Robinson | The key to being a Southern Debian GNU/Linux | Baptist: It ain't a sin if you branden@debian.org | don't get caught. http://people.debian.org/~branden/ | -- Anthony Davidson
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