Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 12:03:37 +0100 From: Paul Robinson <paul@iconoplex.co.uk> To: The Hermit Hacker <scrappy@hub.org> Cc: Michael Carr <sphaleotas@blueyonder.co.uk> Subject: Re: RMS says: "Use BSD, for goodness sake!" Message-ID: <20030626110336.GW34365@iconoplex.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <20030626010357.J508@hub.org> References: <4.3.2.7.2.20030625214311.00e5e240@localhost> <20030626010357.J508@hub.org>
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On Thu, Jun 26, 2003 at 01:07:39AM -0300, The Hermit Hacker wrote:
> # grep GPL */* | awk -F\/ '{print $1}' | sort -u
If we take the output of that, and also mix in the stuff in /usr/src/gnu
then we get the list (and my rough, top of the head, first stab on whether
they're needed and/or can be reimplemented) below of around 35 (there is
some duplication) packages that would need to be re-implemented, replaced or
removed for FBSD to be GPL free.
as - could be replaced, maybe even re-implmented.
awk - encourage people to port their code away from awk. Big.
bc - an undergrad could re-implement based on man page
binutils - collection of some 20 smallish apps, all manageable
bzip2 - could be reimplemented
cc - find an alternative compiler? From where?
cpio - reimplement from man page, or replace/remove requirement for
cvs - Don't need this do we? :-) look at another version control?
dc - see bc
dialog - need it now, kill it later, or re-implement based on man page
diff - another undergrad project
diff3 - see diff
gcc - hahahaha. yeah, right. see "cc".
gdb - ditto.
gperf - remove? teach people better DS&A? :-)
grep - the issue here is the regexp, otherwise re-implement.
groff - look at alternate doc formatting?
gzip - nasty, but re-implementable. Or we move to a non-GNU zip format.
ipfilter - unclear on license... QNX_OCL.txt???
less - re-implementable quite quickly
ld - similar issues to cc and as - quite small though.
libgmp - alternatives available, with a performance hit
libio - another stdio lib from somewhere to replace it?
libpam - Linux PAM. Major effort to replace.
libreadline - big one to replace, IMHO
man - could be re-implemented based on file format information known
ncurses - big, high-impact, hard to replace
patch - see diff
perl - it's not part of base anymore is it? If people want it, they grab it
ptx - remove/replace/re-implement. Probably the former.
rcs - remove and make an optional package?
sdiff - see diff/patch
send-pr - remove! OK, re-implement, if you must. :-)
sort - another undergrad project based on the man page
tar - find alternative, or re-implement
tcpdump - remove from base?
texinfo - find alternative, or remove from base
There's actually quite a few there that could be removed out to optional
packages or ports. Some of it though - like the compiler - just has to stay
unless an alternative is found. The ones that could be taken out straight
away without much impact (I think!) are bc/dc, gperf, groff, ipfilter,
libgmp (maybe?), libpam, perl, ptx, rcs and texinfo. That would bring us
down to around two dozen GNU apps distributed with FBSD, and 10 of those
could be re-written to be command line compatible but under BSD license
quite quickly.
Thoughts?
--
Paul Robinson
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