Re: MacOS floppy creation
>
> Regarding the licensing for a little frob thingie on the CD to make
> things easier, I recommend you simply place whatever AppleScript
> snippets under the public domain, it's very simple and small and easy.
>
> Regarding putting things on the CDs at all, please take it up with the
> Debian-CD group.
>
> I agree with Ethan that it is not acceptable to require proprietary
> software for the use or *building* of any part of Debian.
>
> I also go further and state, at least in the end-of-life
> boot-floppies, I will reject any changes that complexify the build
> process at all.
Since boot-floppies are EOL, it probably doesn't make sense to pursue this
any further. OTOH, will we have the same problem in DI? Will there still be
binary format boot floppy images?
The original issue was how to instruct people to make floppies from the
floppy images supplied for powerpc, on MacOS.
I copied Ethan's instructions, which involved using ResEdit-or-equivalent
and Disk Copy. Those two programs are freely available, but not free
software by any means. suntar, which I had found thru netbsd documentation,
is also not open-source, at least since v1.3.2 many years ago. Even that
version's license is iffy, it starts out "Feel free to use the source code
of suntar or any part of it for anything you wish: " but goes on to list
numerous qualifiers to that statement.
I did a little experimentation with Applescript and came up with a simple
script that would accomplish the same things which Ethan's instructions did,
but in one step without needing to find ResEdit. In other words, using the
Applescript would simplify the instructions. OTOH, some Macs might have
Applescript disabled, so maybe the instructions are necessary anyway, and
then the Applescript is just a small convenience. Maybe I can work on a
free-standing (C) version of this script; but probably it would be better to
wait to see what DI looks like anyhow. At this point I think the script
causes more confusion and gnashing of teeth than it's worth.
I did find an open-source alternate to ResEdit for the creator/type step,
Creator Changer 2.8.4. I also found CHOWN, which Ethan mentioned; but it has
no source.
I looked for a long time for open-source MacBinary/BinHex code. I found
several implementations, but none currently suitable:
-- MacBinary II (pascal) has no license text at all, but is probably for
non-commercial use.
-- MacBinary II+ (pascal) extended MacBinary II, and is for non-commercial
use.
-- MacBinary III (pascal) extended MacBinary II+, and is also for
non-commercial use.
-- MacBinary III (C) is an independent implementation, but it is built with
DropShell, which prohibits distribution of modified versions.
-- BinHex 5.0 (Yves Lempereur) is a freeware Macbinary implementation, but
source code is not available.
-- There are MacBinary and BinHex modules for Java, under the Artistic
License, but MRJ would have to be installed.
-- MacPerl has some modules for both MacBinary and BinHex in
Mac::Conversions. But MacPerl would have to be installed.
-- hqx by John Montbriand prohibits distribution of modified versions.
-- AutoBin (C) uses DropShell, which prohibits distribution of modified
versions.
-- DeHQX (pascal) is for non-commercial use.
-- DeBinHex DropTool (Bill Goodman) is freeware, OK for commercial and
non-commercial, but source code is not available.
-- BinHex 4.02 (Yves Lempereur) is freeware, but no source is available.
-- MSG Demo 1.4 is a GPL'd source collection of 67 graphic effects and 60
fades which happens to include a source module for DeBinHex. But it would
have to be packaged and compiled as a DeBinHex utility.
Perhaps an option to keep in mind for the future whenever the subject of
Macbinary etc. comes up, is MacGZip 1.1.3. This is a GPL'd port of gzip
1.2.4; it includes code to handle Macbinary (which btw credits Peter N.
Lewis MacBinary II+, but is in C - not a copy). It's only single file
decoding, though, no tar capability.
I know that list was boring, but I wanted to document the search for the
list.
Here's my suggestions (assuming this stuff is still useful for the new
installer):
1) Revise the documentation to have the user make a floppy by:
a) Use Creator Changer 2.8.4 to change the creator and type of the image
file (add a link to the download location)
b) Use the Finder to lock the file
c) Use Disk Copy to burn the image to a floppy
2) Fuggedabout scripts, Mac apps in the distro, yadeyadeyade for the
immediate future.
--
Chris Tillman
tillman@azstarnet.com
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