Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 11:45:34 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> To: ck74 <ck74@operamail.com> Cc: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Subject: Re: About closed-source ports... Message-ID: <48427DCE.6010005@infracaninophile.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <17583666.post@talk.nabble.com> References: <17583666.post@talk.nabble.com>
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This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 2440 and 3156) --------------enigCB95342B9E2F85EB0A5E568B Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable ck74 wrote: > Couls someone please tell me how a user can restrict freebsd to install= > open-source ports only? Well, for example if you want to install www/op= era, > 'make install' does not warn user that this port uses closed-source (bi= nary > distribution) only. This isn't functionality that the ports system sets out to provide, I'm afraid. The ports tree deals with software of all sorts -- even down to closed source binaries that you may need to purchase a licence for to run legally (eg security/f-prot).=20 Where licencing terms restrict distribution there are a couple of flags: = 'NO_CDROM' (may not be included in a set of CDROMs or similar sold for profit: eg biology/fasta) and 'NO_PACKAGE' (may not be distributed in=20 compiled form -- eg. comms/hcfmdm, although NO_PACKAGE is also frequently= =20 used for otherwise open software that has to be compiled against a particular kernel image to work properly, eg audio/emu10kx). There's a 'NO_BUILD' flag which is used for ports that install pre-built = binaries, but that's unlikely to be much help for you, as in by far the majority of cases where it is used, it's because the port installs code written in a scripting language (eg databases/phpmyadmin). Some ports will make you jump through hoops to obtain the distribution files -- eg java/jdk16 where you not only have to register with Sun to even download the sources, but you then have to click the button to agree to the license terms for the FreeBSD /patch set/ and also agree to the license terms as part of the build process. (Anyone would be forgiven for thinking Sun didn't want Java to become a widely adopted=20 technology, given the number of hurdles they put in the way of using it...) The once thing you can be sure of, licensing-wise, is that it is absolutely permitted to use the ports to download and install[*] any software included in it: the FreeBSD project as a whole, and the ports committers in particular, are very hot on that subject. That's why, for instance, many of the SnertSoft Milters=20 (http://www.snertsoft.com/solutions.php) aren't in ports: despite being impeccably opensource and all that, the licence terms (requiring hard-copy written permission from the author to permit redistribution) are too onerous for the Ports system to be able to comply with. Cheers, Matthew [*] But not necessarily /run/. --=20 Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 7 Priory Courtyard Flat 3 PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Ramsgate Kent, CT11 9PW --------------enigCB95342B9E2F85EB0A5E568B Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.9 (FreeBSD) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iEYEAREIAAYFAkhCfdYACgkQ8Mjk52CukIwOAgCfQ5Xexzafoa4U99tn74QL2OHt iakAn3wOyWwfRRTq2Y7sxAPsooTRO4FL =c/ov -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --------------enigCB95342B9E2F85EB0A5E568B--
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