On Monday 15 August 2005 04:37, Hans du Plooy wrote: > I really couldn't care if mp3 is free or not, it doesn't cost anything > to compile lame and it doesn't cost anything to play back mp3s either, > so what's the fuss?
Another poster correctly stated it isn't DFSG-Free, though it is available. Simply put, issues occur when LAME is sold (i.e., part of a for-profit distribution). (For playback of MP3/decoding, the issue is that the license is restrictive in a way that the owner(s) can, at any time, decide when to charge for decoders.) Basically, a stamp of Debian Free means that the the software can legally be distributed and redistributed forever (including in for-profit usage of Debian). Because of similar issues, MP3 encoders and decoders can not be guaranteed to be forever redistributable. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
