On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 00:37:45 +0200, Wouter Verhelst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
> On Mon, Oct 18, 2004 at 07:51:00PM +0200, Josselin Mouette wrote:
>> Le lundi 18 octobre 2004 à 19:22 +0200, Wesley W. Terpstra a écrit
>> :
>> > So, when it comes time to release this and include it in a .deb,
>> > I ask myself: what would happen if I included (with the C source
>> > and ocaml compiler) some precompiled object files for i386? As
>> > long as the build target is i386, these object files could be
>> > linked in instead of using gcc to produce (slower) object
>> > files. This would mean a 2* speedup for users, which is vital in
>> > order to reach line-speed. Other platforms recompile as normal.
>> >
>> > On the other hand, is this still open source? Is this allowed by
>> > policy? Can this go into main?
>>
>> Main must be built with only packages from main.
> No, that's not true.
> In addition, the packages in _main_
> * must not require a package outside of _main_ for
> compilation or execution (thus, the package must not
> declare a "Depends", "Recommends", or "Build-Depends"
> relationship on a non-_main_ package),
> There's a difference, which is crucial. ICC may not be Free
> Software, policy does not say you must only use Free Software to
> build a package; it says you must not /require/ a package outside
> main to build it.
Policy is not the only thinkg we consult when deciding what
fits into main.
> The difference is subtle, but crucial.
Reproducing this package _does_ require non-free software. If
I use just free software, I can't reproduce that .deb -- and thus
that .deb may not be kept in main.
> Wesley's software can be built using software in main. It will not
> be as fast, but it will still do its job, flawlessly, without loss
> of features, with the ability to modify the software to better meet
> one's needs if so required.
Right. So the package may live in main -- as long as the .deb
was actually produced from packages that live in main.
>> If you really want to distribute a package built with icc, you
>> should make a separate package in the contrib section, and have it
>> conflict with the package in main.
> That's also possible, of course, but not required IMO.
I think it is. Any package in the archive should be
reproducible if built on a buildd.
>> The GPL doesn't restrict anything you are describing, as long as
>> the source is available alongside.
> Nor does Policy.
I would not be too sure.
Stuff built using non-free stuff is not free -- even if a
different version _may_ be built using free software. So, a .deb
built using non-free software should not be in the main archive.
manoj
--
Kiss your keyboard goodbye!
Manoj Srivastava <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
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