[Bug 26452] Re: netatalk not built with encrypted auth support

[benchang]

Hi,

thanks for the reply.  I spent some time scratching my head over this  
and delving into the weird world of incompatible free software  
licenses.  It seems strange that we have here a piece of free  
software, which relies on another piece of free software; we can  
distribute both of them, but we can't distribute them connected, so we  
can only distribute something that is effectively crippled.  From the  
end-user perspective it seems like this should be solvable - we can  
find a way to distribute many other things which are much more  
incompatible with free software as a whole :)  I also thought that  
multiverse was where things go which have license incompatibilities  
anyway.

But, from a strict standpoint, it does make sense.  If I understand it  
correctly, the apache license has stricter requirements regarding  
patents than GPL v2, but is more compatible with GPL V3 ... or  
something?

Out of curiousity I started reading all the licenses for all the other  
packages I have installed.  Is the exception you mention just as  
simple as what's in the license for CUPS, for example?  Such as

"     xxx. OpenSSL Toolkit License Exception;

	a. Research Systems Unix Group at the University of Michigan  
explicitly allows the
	   compilation and distribution of the CUPS software
	   with Netatalk"

Is there a petition we can sign, or can I just call them up and ask,
maybe?

Here's my argument for why this is important:  It's important that  
linux (in our case, ubuntu) be able to interoperate on a network with  
other OS's.  If you use a Mac, AFP is the sanest option.   Apple  
doesn't have all that much market share, but it does have a lot at  
least in schools and universities in the US and in creative and design  
businesses.  These are places where Ubuntu could be a great addition,  
and being able to share files between osx and linux is a critical part  
of making that work.

I say that from spending the last 7 years running a linux lab in a  
100% Mac art school.  Having netatalk and avahi working well is  
really, really, important. :)


Quoting Michael Bienia <michael at vorlon.ping.de>:

> No, as netatalk linked with openssl wouldn't be redistributable, which
> is a main requirement for inclusion in multiverse.
>
> One option is to convince netatalk upstream to add a openssl   
> exception to the license.
> An other option is to try if netatalk builds and works with gnutls.
>
> --
> netatalk not built with encrypted auth support
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/26452
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

-- 
netatalk not built with encrypted auth support
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/26452
You received this bug notification because you are a member of MOTU,
which is a bug assignee.