[arch-dev-public] Inclusion of RAR

[Pierre Schmitz]

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.
> 
> [1] http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=20760

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