> > Regarding the licensing for a little frob thingie on the CD to make > things easier, I recommend you simply place whatever AppleScript > snippets under the public domain, it's very simple and small and easy. > > Regarding putting things on the CDs at all, please take it up with the > Debian-CD group. > > I agree with Ethan that it is not acceptable to require proprietary > software for the use or *building* of any part of Debian. > > I also go further and state, at least in the end-of-life > boot-floppies, I will reject any changes that complexify the build > process at all.
Since boot-floppies are EOL, it probably doesn't make sense to pursue this any further. OTOH, will we have the same problem in DI? Will there still be binary format boot floppy images? The original issue was how to instruct people to make floppies from the floppy images supplied for powerpc, on MacOS. I copied Ethan's instructions, which involved using ResEdit-or-equivalent and Disk Copy. Those two programs are freely available, but not free software by any means. suntar, which I had found thru netbsd documentation, is also not open-source, at least since v1.3.2 many years ago. Even that version's license is iffy, it starts out "Feel free to use the source code of suntar or any part of it for anything you wish: " but goes on to list numerous qualifiers to that statement. I did a little experimentation with Applescript and came up with a simple script that would accomplish the same things which Ethan's instructions did, but in one step without needing to find ResEdit. In other words, using the Applescript would simplify the instructions. OTOH, some Macs might have Applescript disabled, so maybe the instructions are necessary anyway, and then the Applescript is just a small convenience. Maybe I can work on a free-standing (C) version of this script; but probably it would be better to wait to see what DI looks like anyhow. At this point I think the script causes more confusion and gnashing of teeth than it's worth. I did find an open-source alternate to ResEdit for the creator/type step, Creator Changer 2.8.4. I also found CHOWN, which Ethan mentioned; but it has no source. I looked for a long time for open-source MacBinary/BinHex code. I found several implementations, but none currently suitable: -- MacBinary II (pascal) has no license text at all, but is probably for non-commercial use. -- MacBinary II+ (pascal) extended MacBinary II, and is for non-commercial use. -- MacBinary III (pascal) extended MacBinary II+, and is also for non-commercial use. -- MacBinary III (C) is an independent implementation, but it is built with DropShell, which prohibits distribution of modified versions. -- BinHex 5.0 (Yves Lempereur) is a freeware Macbinary implementation, but source code is not available. -- There are MacBinary and BinHex modules for Java, under the Artistic License, but MRJ would have to be installed. -- MacPerl has some modules for both MacBinary and BinHex in Mac::Conversions. But MacPerl would have to be installed. -- hqx by John Montbriand prohibits distribution of modified versions. -- AutoBin (C) uses DropShell, which prohibits distribution of modified versions. -- DeHQX (pascal) is for non-commercial use. -- DeBinHex DropTool (Bill Goodman) is freeware, OK for commercial and non-commercial, but source code is not available. -- BinHex 4.02 (Yves Lempereur) is freeware, but no source is available. -- MSG Demo 1.4 is a GPL'd source collection of 67 graphic effects and 60 fades which happens to include a source module for DeBinHex. But it would have to be packaged and compiled as a DeBinHex utility. Perhaps an option to keep in mind for the future whenever the subject of Macbinary etc. comes up, is MacGZip 1.1.3. This is a GPL'd port of gzip 1.2.4; it includes code to handle Macbinary (which btw credits Peter N. Lewis MacBinary II+, but is in C - not a copy). It's only single file decoding, though, no tar capability. I know that list was boring, but I wanted to document the search for the list. Here's my suggestions (assuming this stuff is still useful for the new installer): 1) Revise the documentation to have the user make a floppy by: a) Use Creator Changer 2.8.4 to change the creator and type of the image file (add a link to the download location) b) Use the Finder to lock the file c) Use Disk Copy to burn the image to a floppy 2) Fuggedabout scripts, Mac apps in the distro, yadeyadeyade for the immediate future. -- Chris Tillman [EMAIL PROTECTED]
