Hi all,
I am currently using Trisquel GNU/Linux 4.0 Taranis. When i was
searching through the Trisquel Repository (of Taranis); i was shocked to find
that "Multiverse" is enabled for two sections!! ; Games and Multimedia. Well,
both are related to the "mythtv" package. And another shock came when i saw
that "libmp3lame0" or the LAME Encoder is present !!. This was not there in 3.5
Awen that i was using previously. So i decided to send a mail to RMS regarding
this...and got a reply today evening from him. Here is what it says..
My mail :-
Dear Mr.Stallman,
My name is S.Sreekanth and I am a great fan of GNU and believe
in the ideals a lot. I have been using
GNU/Linux for around 5 years now. After listening to one of your speeches, i
had searched on gnu.org to check for a Distro which is recommended as a Fully
Free Operating System. And i was really impressed by Trisquel GNU/Linux. But
recently i had upgraded to their latest version 4.0 called Taranis. What i
noticed is that, they have some "Multiverse" sections in the package manager
enabled. And also, libmp3lame (or lame mp3 encoder library) is also included in
the repository. I came to know that LAME is in LGPL, but i found this statement
on their site and in my repository :
"Please note that any commercial use (including distributing the LAME encoding
engine in a free encoder) may require a patent license from Thomson Multimedia."
Does this package still qualify to be included in "Trisquel
GNU/Linux". Or, will this inclusion prevent Trisquel from becoming a "Fully
Free Operating System". Expecting a fast
reply...
Warm Regards,
S.Sreekanth
Kerala, India
His reply :-
"Please note that any commercial use (including distributing the LAME
encoding
engine in a free encoder) may require a patent license from Thomson
Multimedia."
Does this package still qualify to be included in "Trisquel
GNU/Linux". Or, will this inclusion prevent Trisquel from becoming a "Fully
Free Operating System". Expecting a fast reply...
"Our policy is that if people get away with distributing free software
to do something that is patented, then it is ok with us.
However, I think it is unfortunate that they include that notice."
Well, i had consulted Jay Jacob sir regarding this mail
to make clear what RMS meant by his statement. RMS seems to be saying that, Its
ok with him, if people are using Free Software to do something which is
patented.
So that means Trisquel still remains a "Fully Free Operating
System". Just wanted to inform you all regarding this email conversation i had
with RMS.
Warm Regards,
S.Sreekanth
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