[FFmpeg-devel] license violator seeking help to continue his behavior

[Patrice Bensoussan]

On 25 Jun 2009, at 01:56, Karl Blomster wrote:

> Patrice Bensoussan wrote:
>> On 25 Jun 2009, at 01:39, Karl Blomster wrote:
>>> Patrice Bensoussan wrote:
>>>> On 25 Jun 2009, at 00:24, Diego Biurrun wrote:
>>>>> On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 11:12:05PM +0100, Patrice Bensoussan  
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm trying to compile ffmpeg for ppc so that it can run on both  
>>>>>> G3 and
>>>>>> G4 (using altivec with G4). It seems that --enable-runtime- 
>>>>>> cpudetect
>>>>>> option has been introduced recently in configure, so I assume  
>>>>>> it would
>>>>>> be the option to use to achieve what I want to do... but  
>>>>>> doesn't seem
>>>>>> to work... Am I missing something or is this a known issue/ 
>>>>>> limitation?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> /Users/patriceb/tmp/WMA/ffmpeg/libswscale/swscale.c: In function
>>>>>> ?getSwsFunc?:
>>>>>> /Users/patriceb/tmp/WMA/ffmpeg/libswscale/swscale.c:2001:  
>>>>>> warning:
>>>>>> implicit declaration of function ?sws_init_swScale_C?
>>>>>> /Users/patriceb/tmp/WMA/ffmpeg/libswscale/swscale.c:2002: error:
>>>>>> ?swScale_C? undeclared (first use in this function)
>>>>>> /Users/patriceb/tmp/WMA/ffmpeg/libswscale/swscale.c:2002:  
>>>>>> error: (Each
>>>>>> undeclared identifier is reported only once
>>>>>> /Users/patriceb/tmp/WMA/ffmpeg/libswscale/swscale.c:2002:  
>>>>>> error: for
>>>>>> each function it appears in.)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here is my configure line (I am compiling on an Intel Mac for  
>>>>>> PPC, not
>>>>>> sure if this matters in this case...):
>>>>>> (notice that it compiles fine for Intel, so issue seems to be ppc
>>>>>> specific...)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> configure --enable-runtime-cpudetect --enable-nonfree --disable- 
>>>>>> bzlib
>>>>>> --enable-pthreads --disable-network --enable-small --enable- 
>>>>>> libmp3lame
>>>>>> --enable-libfaac --arch=ppc --disable-decoder=atrac3 --extra- 
>>>>>> ldflags="-
>>>>>> isysroot /Xcode2.5/SDKs/MacOSX10.3.9.sdk -arch ppc --extra- 
>>>>>> cflags="-
>>>>>> isysroot /Xcode2.5/SDKs/MacOSX10.3.9.sdk -arch ppc --enable-gpl  
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> enable-libx264 --enable-libfaad
>>>>>
>>>>> I cannot reproduce your problem on Mac OS X 10.5.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> But this is not the important thing here.  The important thing  
>>>>> here is
>>>>> that you are blatantly violating our license in many ways with  
>>>>> your
>>>>> easywma and easywmv shareware programs:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.easywma.com/
>>>>> http://www.easywma.com/wmv/
>>>>>
>>>>> And now you have the cheek to come here to get help preparing  
>>>>> your next
>>>>> release?  This is galling and the fact that you have some  
>>>>> patches in
>>>>> FFmpeg makes it doubly disappointing.
>>>> Can you please elaborate on how I am violating the license? I  
>>>> would be happy to fix any issue related to this?
>>>> Patrice
>>>
>>> A wild guess says that since you're compiling ffmpeg with swscale,  
>>> libx264 and various other GPL components, the entire ffmpeg binary  
>>> becomes GPL licensed and hence it is a violation of the GPL to not  
>>> make the source code of your application available.
>>>
>>> As it was also noted recently, compiling ffmpeg with both GPL  
>>> components and faac makes the resulting binary illegal to  
>>> distribute in most (all? IANAL) countries where the GPL is  
>>> enforceable (that is most countries, and most likely including  
>>> yours), but I don't know who would enforce that.
>> My application is not linked to ffmpeg. The binary of ffmpeg is  
>> distributed without any modification. Unless I am mistaken, this is  
>> allowed by the GPL licence. Regarding faac, can you please clarify  
>> what the issue is? faac is LGPL and hence can be distributed with  
>> ffmpeg? Thanks.
>
> faac claims to be LGPL but actually isn't. A number (most?) of its  
> source files are actually under a really vague and non-GPL- 
> compatible license, see http://faac.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/faac/faac/README?revision=1.7&view=markup
> The problem isn't (as far as I can determine) really with that  
> license in itself (as mentioned it's extremely vague and you  
> probably need to consult a lawyer to find out what it actually  
> means), but rather that it isn't compatible with the GPL and hence  
> linking GPL code to that code automatically becomes a license  
> violation (but as I said, I wonder in whose interest it would be to  
> try to stop said violation).

I see, thanks for the clarification. Will try to use the aac encoder  
included in ffmpeg instead to avoid any problem. Diego, do you see any  
other issue which should be addressed?

Patrice