Re: lame not in the debian package repository?
On Monday 15 August 2005 04:37, Hans du Plooy wrote:
> I really couldn't care if mp3 is free or not, it doesn't cost anything
> to compile lame and it doesn't cost anything to play back mp3s either,
> so what's the fuss?
Another poster correctly stated it isn't DFSG-Free, though it is available.
Simply put, issues occur when LAME is sold (i.e., part of a for-profit
distribution). (For playback of MP3/decoding, the issue is that the license
is restrictive in a way that the owner(s) can, at any time, decide when to
charge for decoders.) Basically, a stamp of Debian Free means that the the
software can legally be distributed and redistributed forever (including in
for-profit usage of Debian). Because of similar issues, MP3 encoders and
decoders can not be guaranteed to be forever redistributable.
Reply to: