Gentoo Archives: gentoo-dev

From: Alexander Berntsen <alexander@××××××.net>
To: gentoo-dev@l.g.o
Subject: [gentoo-dev] Local bindist descriptions
Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2012 23:55:22
Message-Id: 50DF82BE.1060301@plaimi.net
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4 All packages should have local descriptions of what the bindist
5 USE-flag specifically does. This should be a policy when writing
6 ebuilds that include it.
7
8 The bindist USE-flag is for avoiding components in a package that
9 would result in non-re-distributable binary packages. The generic
10 global description is "Flag to enable or disable options for prebuilt
11 (GRP) packages (eg. due to licensing issues)". This is very vague. It
12 does not in any way explain the specifics of what enabling the flag
13 will do.
14
15 This means that each package should describe what it specifically
16 does. www-client/firefox-10.0.11 is one example that does this
17 properly with "Disable official Firefox branding (icons, name) which
18 are not binary-redistributable according to upstream." This is
19 perfectly descriptive. net-misc/openssh is one example that does not
20 have a local/specific description.
21
22 To me, this is unacceptable. Someone who cares enough about licensing
23 and distribution etc. to set the bindist USE-flag, will likely care
24 about the specifics of the it as well. Furthermore, different people
25 find different things unacceptable. As an example, patent-encumbered
26 codec support in ffmpeg is something that might be considered
27 unacceptable to some. However, the very same people might not be worried
28 about trademark/branding-related issues, such as is the case with
29 Firefox. This is comparable to how some find the GPL acceptable, but
30 not the Artistic License 1.0, and ebuilds do indeed require the
31 licence -- not LICENSE="free-ish".
32
33 I have filed bug reports for the affected packages. However, to avoid
34 this becoming an issue in the future I think it would be fruitful to
35 have a policy or something to make sure all ebuilds that make use of the
36 bindist USE-flag at the very least describe *what* toggling it does in
37 the context of that specific package, and preferably also *why* the
38 flag exists in the first place. This will summarise the problem and
39 the solution that USE=+bindist offers for the end-user. I don't find
40 it acceptable to make the details "left as an exercise" to the user.
41
42 The affected packages per now* are all versions of:
43
44 dev-db/libdbi-drivers
45 dev-db/opendbx
46 dev-libs/gf2x
47 gnome-extra/libgda
48 kde-base/oxygen-icons
49 media-libs/freetype
50 media-libs/libaacplus
51 media-libs/mediastreamer
52 media-libs/mesa
53 media-plugins/mediastreamer-silk
54 media-video/ffmpeg
55 media-video/libav
56 media-video/mplayer
57 media-video/mplayer2
58 net-dialup/freeradius
59 net-libs/gnutls
60 net-libs/liboauth
61 net-misc/openssh
62 net-misc/vpnc
63 sci-visualization/qtiplot
64
65 Newer versions of gnutls don't have the USE-flag, so I'll let that one
66 slide. ffmpeg is problematic... see:
67 <https://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=369249>.
68
69 *27/12/12 21:38
70
71 - - --
72 Alexander
73 alexander@××××××.net
74 http://plaimi.net/~alexander
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Replies

Subject Author
Re: [gentoo-dev] Local bindist descriptions Matt Turner <mattst88@g.o>
Re: [gentoo-dev] Local bindist descriptions Mike Gilbert <floppym@g.o>
[gentoo-dev] Re: Local bindist descriptions nunojsilva@ist.utl.pt (Nuno J. Silva)