Przemys=B3aw Pawe=B3czyk <pp@kv.net.pl> writes:

> I'm not a programmer but I can help other way. E.g. puting on my WWW
> the forbidden binaries of OpenMotif (for nedit and xpdf !!!) and
> Mplayer. In other words I can keep unofficial site with i386
> binaries.

This is a difficult issue.  Packages are omitted from binary
distributions because a NO_BIN_ON_FTP tag is set, which is because
someone believes that such binaries can't be redistributed, generally
because of a lack of license under copyright law.

For openmotif, the current coding doesn't set NO_BIN_ON_FTP for
NetBSD, so I don't understand why that binary isn't available.

For mplayer, the problems are:

NO_BIN_ON_CDROM=3D        a dependency is restricted
NO_BIN_ON_FTP=3D          a dependency is restricted
NO_SRC_ON_FTP=3D          prohibited by USAs DMCA

The restricted dependency problem could be dealt with by making those
dependencies optional, defaulting to off.

The NO_SRC_ON_FTP is more complicated, and I don't understand the
details.  Perhaps it's not really necessary - I wonder if it's about
dvdcss, but using mplayer to play non-CSS DVDs, or quicktime files, or
many other uses should not be an issue.

And if it's a US only issue, someone in another jurisdiction may be
able to provide binary packages (after first obtaining the advice of
counsel, of course).  But TNF's servers in the US have to follow US
law.

--=20
    Greg Troxel <gdt@ir.bbn.com>