Bug#42571: gif2png not nonfree unless it can write gifs
Package: gif2png
Version: 0.6-1
According to the Free Software Foundation, the LZW patent only impacts
programs that can write compressed gif files. If gif2png can not write gifs,
and the license is otherwise acceptable, it belongs in main.
See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/gif.html :
"Decoding GIFs is a different issue. The Unisys and IBM patents are both
written in such a way that they do not apply to a program which can only
uncompress LZW format and cannot compress. Therefore we can and will include
support for displaying GIF files in GNU software."
Since gif2png is a valuable tool for migrating away from the
patent-encumbered gif file format, I think it's important for it to be
accessable to as many people as possible. It's a shame for it to be in
non-free if it doesn't have to be.
--
Brian Ristuccia
brianr@osiris.978.org
bristucc@nortelnetworks.com
bristucc@cs.uml.edu
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