Various License/patent questions

[kwizart]

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Hi!

I wonder if theses software I'm using or planning to use, could be
allowed in Fedora...

* libopendaap 0.4.0 - http://craz.net/programs/itunes/libopendaap.html
Previous version seems to uses Apple's mDNS library but that's not the
case anymore with 0.4.0, maybe there is still a patent issue with it ?!

* lsdvd -  http://untrepid.com/acidrip/lsdvd.html
This BR libdvdread-devel but now libdvdread-devel is within
Fedora...lsdvd should be allowed in Fedora also ?!

* xmltv - http://xmltv.org/wiki/
 package can be found on Axel Thimm's rpms repository . But can we
have it within Fedora
It can be used at runtime by:

* freevo - http://freevo.sourceforge.net
This is a multimedia center using python... All necessary build
dependencies can be found within Fedora but functionalities can be
enhanced at runtime by using others player and tuner apps that can be
found on others third part repositories...
Runtime apps that can be added :
- - from Fedora : tvtime oxine
- - from others third part repositories : mplayer xdtv xmltv xmame xine
vlc  lsdvd mpd smpeg

* ivtv-firmware - (and perl scrips if needed)
- - ivtv kernel module is bundled within the kernel since 2.6.22 - we
might be able to redistribute the firmware as Axel Thimm have made
some work about it...

* OpenCASCADE - http://www.opencascade.org - Open CASCADE Technology
Public License (LGPL compatible ?)
The installer used to bundle the package seems to use java 1.6 (sun)
but can be repackaged... It will miss the java extension for
now...(still testing - Not Required)...All other hard build
dependencies requirement can be provided by Fedora.

* STLport - http://www.stlport.org/doc/license.html
This is a optional build dependency of OpenCASCADE which will make
OpenCASCADE built "not supported" by the development team.

* omniORB -*  *http://omniorb.sourceforge.net/ - Seems to be GPL

* SALOME - http://www.salome-platform.org - (claims to be LGPL )
Optional dependency omniORB, and omniORBpy and needs OpenCASCADE (hard
BuildRequires)  - maybe others...  (still in early testing )

* scilab - http://www.scilab.org - Scilab (c)INRIA-ENPC
Their own license seems too restrictive - probably not acceptable.

* openNURBS - http://www.opennurbs.com/ - no license not even copyleft.
This one is an optioanal Requirement for brlcad (
http://sourceforge.net/projects/brlcad/ ) - It can be downloaded  by
providing an email where they send a password code that can uncompress
the archive - need to be repackaged then... Brlcad provides a copy of
the sourcecode within the brlcad tarball. It will compile it
statically (and will solve lot of gcc 4.1 compilation errors ).

* Deal.II - http://www.dealii.org/5.2.0/license.html - QPL
non-commercial use
Saw in GPL-Incompatible Free Software Licenses from
http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/
It seems not acceptable but sample taken from here stand for a library...

* z88 - http://www.z88.uni-bayreuth.de -  claims to be GPL but it
needs openmotif which is not free software (lesstif cannot be used)

Since patent/license often needs to be found looking at each source
code header, that might be a really hard task for some of them...
Maybe a preliminary answer should be fine about how to deal with that.
There is sometime a dependency problem (for some of them I'm still at
a early step at packaging ).
Of course, if a hard build requirement cannot be in Fedora, then the
package will inherit from the ban.
But what about an optional BR ?


Nicolas (kwizart)






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