Re: Visualboy Advance question.
On Wed, Jul 07, 2004 at 12:22:09PM +0100, Edmund GRIMLEY EVANS wrote:
> > I put xtrs in contrib because without the ROM (or a DFSG-free OS for the
> > TRS-80 Model 4P, which doesn't exist or at the very least isn't packaged),
> > the only thing it will do is display an error message that no ROM was
> > found.
> >
> > My thinking is that we need to not be pulling any bait-and-switches on our
> > users. If I were to "apt-get install xtrs" from main, I'd expect it to do
> > something more than throw up an error message.
> >
> > In summary, the decision to put emulators that are largely or completely
> > inoperable without supplementary materials (from non-free, or not provided
> > by Debian at all), is not wholly compelled by the "100% Free Software"
> > portion of the Social Contract. It's also motivated by the "We will be
> > guided by the needs of our users" part.
>
> Could you explain how you think the "emulator and ROM" situation is
> different from the "media player and media file" situation, if you
> think it is?
I think there's a fairly significant difference between an emulator that
will load and display an "insert ROM" image (eg. NES, SNES), and one
that requires a specific non-free image in order to be able to do anything
at all (eg. PSX BIOS images).
The first is analogous to requiring media; you see what the console displays
if a cartridge isn't inserted. The second is the same as requiring a non-free
library for which there is no free replacement. (I'm not aware of any free
replacement PSX BIOSes.)
I get the feeling that the "TRS-80 Model 4P" ROM is in the latter category.
--
Glenn Maynard
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