[FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH v2] avcodec/nvenc: Include NVENC SDK header

[Philip Langdale]

On 2015-12-12 19:26, Andreas Cadhalpun wrote:
> On 12.12.2015 11:35, Hendrik Leppkes wrote:
>> On Sat, Dec 12, 2015 at 11:25 AM, Andreas Cadhalpun
>> <andreas.cadhalpun at googlemail.com> wrote:
>>> On 12.12.2015 10:50, Hendrik Leppkes wrote:
>>>> We should just add an exception into the license to explicitly allow
>>>> using it with the NVIDIA CUDA library and be done with this debate 
>>>> for
>>>> ever.
>>> 
>>> That would be an option.
>>> 
>>>> You know that Open-Source has failed when the project itself is
>>>> arguing days and days for including a feature on license reasons 
>>>> that
>>>> any closed-source app would just write, enable and offer to its 
>>>> users
>>>> without a second thought.
>>> 
>>> Please try to take a step back.
>>> The "nvenc" feature is already included in FFmpeg, just not enabled 
>>> by
>>> default.
>>> 
>> 
>> And not enabled on any distribution, hence 99% of all users don't see
>> it or get to use it.
> 
> You can't blame distributors for following our license.
> 
> Anyway, I think your idea about a license exception would be a good 
> solution.
> We could add a special exception to nvenc.c, allowing its use with 
> Nvidia's
> blobs, something like [1]:
> 
>  In addition, as a special exception, the copyright holders give you
>  permission to combine this code with free software programs or 
> libraries
>  that are released under the GNU LGPL and with code included in the 
> standard
>  release of the CUDA and NVENC libraries under the NVIDIA Software 
> License
>  (or modified versions of such code, with unchanged license).
>  You may copy and distribute such a system following the terms of the 
> GNU LGPL
>  for this code and the licenses of the other code concerned.
> 
>  Note that people who make modified versions of this code are not 
> obligated
>  to grant this special exception for their modified versions; it is 
> their
>  choice whether to do so. The GNU Lesser General Public License gives
>  permission to release a modified version without this exception; this
>  exception also makes it possible to release a modified version which 
> carries
>  forward this exception.

This is fair enough, but I want to close out the LGPL conversation. The 
FAQ
specifically discusses GPLv2 and GPLv3 and not LGPL, and I'll claim 
that's because
it doesn't apply. The fact that a third party can take LGPL ffmpeg and 
combine it
with proprietary code in certain ways means that clearly we can do so as 
well. it
would be highly illogical to conclude that section 6/7 do not apply to 
the original
code itself and that we need to construct a separate entity that does 
the combination
for it to be licence compliant.

--phil