On Tue, 4 Jan 2011 00:55:52 +0800, Ray Rashif wrote:
Hi guys
During the recent community package addition sprint I noticed someone mentioning rar [1], so I looked into any possible reason why it was never brought into the repositories (not that I personally have any need for it). I found none. Ubuntu appears to have had it in multiverse for some time already, and a quick mail to RARLAB resulted in a reply from Eugene Roshal stating that it's OK to redistribute if no files are modified.
I have never figured out how the trial thing works for this Linux command-line version. It looks like a fully usable program to me that will last for an indefinite period.
Is there any objection to this? The only reason I'd be adding it to extra is that it has 600 votes. Else, it can go to community.
I don't think we should provide a binary rar package in any repository. Distribution might be possible by getting a written permission from the vendor but the actual free usage is limited to 40 days after which you have to buy a license. Users might not expect this restriction from a package we provide in our repos. Also it doesn't matter if there is some actual drm implementation which would prevent usage longer than 40 days or not. Using it for a longer period will still be illegal. Greetings, Pierre -- Pierre Schmitz, https://users.archlinux.de/~pierre