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VLC Core is LGPL

jbkempf.com

91–100 of 149 posts

Re: VLC Core is LGPL

#91
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, you mean in VLC lib itself. BTW, will there be a "static link exception" for the iOS App Store?

I am not sure to understand what you mean, to be honest.

Look for "Static Library Exception"

http://multinc.com/2009/08/24/compatibility-between-the-ipho...

Re: VLC Core is LGPL

#92
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main reason, is that VLC is too mainstream... For people who want to spend hours to configure their system, MPC-HC with madVR can give better upscaling and foobar gives better audio fidelity. Most of the rest is usual rants from issues that VLC had in the past, but that 1337 video people like to bring up to explain how their setup is soooo much better.

I have to ask. Do you frequent /g/?

No. I am quite too busy for that...

Re: VLC Core is LGPL

#93
post #76
post #66

Wait, doesn't the LGPL require users to be able to substitute their own compiled version? How does the LGPL relicense solve the Apple AppStore problem everyone is talking about? Apple may approve LGPLd code, but as far as I can tell, they still do not comply with it under their current distribution system. edit: wrote iOS instead of LGPL in the first line, thanks simonh

I think you mean LGPL where you say iOS in the first sentence. I can't answer your question, but just point out that huge chunks of iOS itself are LGPL already, such as webkit, and the LGPL version of ffmpeg is already widely used. There has been some speculation in the past that because iOS mandates static linking that this is a problem for using LGPL libraries, but I fall into the 'linking creates a compilation, no…

1. Apple distributes source to the LGPL pieces, so that is not an issue for them.

2. The rest of what you said doesn't make much sense to me. I'm not clear on what distinction you are trying to make.

There are those that believe that the question of linking is mostly irrelevant to whether something is a derivative work. Lawrence Rosen is the canonical example of folks in this camp. But even in that camp, static linking may be a problem, it just depends on what is being done.

So it's not really true that "static linking isn't a problem".

Re: VLC Core is LGPL

#94
post #72

Every time a GPL related post comes up, it always reminds me of the sqlite project, and how the world could be simpler without those weird licenses. http://www.sqlite.org/copyright.html

That's all well and good, but the GPL is set up to address problems that the authors saw, that public domain licensing does not - mainly that they thought users should have the right to obtain the source to the stuff running on their machines.

Others like it because it's a way of saying 'you can use this stuff I've put a lot of effort into, but only if we get to see the enhancements you make'.

I know that neither of these things is a priority for some developers, who prefer things to be used as widely as possible and as unrestricted as possible, but that's not for everyone.

Re: VLC Core is LGPL

#95
post #88
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Read part 1 and 3 I have read part 1, didn't know there was a part 3. I'm just saying that imagine (in a hypothetical situation) there is a large code module written by an original author under the GPL. Over time it is worked on and line by line it is eventually fully replaced with new code by 5 other people. Even if you get the 5 to agree to a license change, the original 1 would still have an argument that it was…

> I'm just saying that imagine (in a hypothetical situation) there is a large code module written by an original author under the GPL. This is not the case here. And part 1 explains exactly this, with the git log part. Part 3 will close the loop altogether.

Oops, missed that!

In my defence I drank a lot of rum last night...

Re: VLC Core is LGPL

#96
post #69
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citing a comment made by a lawyer several years ago. First ask oneself what situations you dont want to be in, and then prepare yourself for it. Some people dont want to see their code being used in a context that might hurt a other human being, like spyware hidden inside a video player. Say someone modified VLC to produce a proprietary video player which included functions that spied on the users activities. As a de…

Nothing in the GPL prevents such uses.

Well, GPL do prevent the production of an proprietary video player based on GPL code.

Sure, they can produce a video player full of spyware and then give the source of the spyware to their users, but then, that would render that spyware useless as soon a anti-virus got their hand on it. Not to mention, users would avoid the program as the spyware would then be known.

Re: VLC Core is LGPL

#97
post #41
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VLC has been able to handle pretty much anything you throw at it for many years and always been available across diverse platforms. It's an awesome product. Why so negative?

The main reason, is that VLC is too mainstream... For people who want to spend hours to configure their system, MPC-HC with madVR can give better upscaling and foobar gives better audio fidelity. Most of the rest is usual rants from issues that VLC had in the past, but that 1337 video people like to bring up to explain how their setup is soooo much better.

That's nice and all, except that I quite specifically wrote that equally simple yet better solutions exist.

Anyway, giving VLC 2.0.4 on Windows a spin, the audio glitch on pause is certainly still there. I guess I'll take your word on it being fixed in "development versions", but I don't think MPC-HC has had an issue like this, like, ever. H.264 seeking and ordered chapters certainly seem to work without any notable issues these days, though. Subtitle rendering still has some issues with complex typesetting, though libass is at fault there.

So there isn't that much of a difference anymore between say, a vanilla installation of CCCP and VLC. I'd still recommend the former for Windows users, though. Why? Because the former is a DirectShow playback solution, you can actually extend and swap its components at ease. Want to install madVR for high quality rendering? Sure, just download and install it and you can instantly use it in MPC-HC (which ships with CCCP) right afterwards. Being stand-alone has its benefits, but it certainly also has its disadvantages. Not to mention that with VSFilter you don't have to ever see that "Building font cache" (which will certainly not take "less than a minute" if you have lots of fonts) window!

Re: VLC Core is LGPL

#98
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does LGPL enable the iOS port? My understanding of LGPL is that it requires that users be able to switch out the LGPL-licensed code. This implies dynamic linking, not a difficult proposition, but more fundamentally it requires that users are able to access the LGPL code portion, delete it, and replace it with something else. I don't see how any old iOS user can do this without paying a dev fee.

You could do a proprietary application about libVLC+VLCKit and distribute on the AppStore. And one could still side-load your application.

I thought that that was the point of contention; that it is not normally possible to sideload software onto iOS devices. If sideloading was possible (hmm, would jailbreaking count?), no biggie, just make the object files available for linking like Sparrow did (http://www.sparrowmailapp.com/lgpl.php).

Re: VLC Core is LGPL

#99
Congratulations to JB and team on completing this Herculean task! I had the pleasure of meeting JB when he and I shared a ride from the airport in Porto Alegre for this year's FISL.[1] When he asked me what I was going to be presenting on, I (not yet knowing anything about JB's work) had some trepidation in responding: my presentation was on corporate open source anti-patterns[2] -- and one of my conclusions was that the GPL has essentially outlived its usefulness. Fearing that this was a very controversial conclusion, I approached it gingerly in my conversation with JB; needless to say I was very relieved to learn that he and the VLC team had come to broadly similar conclusions -- and surprised that they felt so strongly that they had taken on the arduous task of relicensing. Congratulations again to JB and team; I'm sure that they join the ranks of us who never want to engage in a(nother) licensing discussion as long as we live!

[1] http://dtrace.org/blogs/bmc/2012/08/01/post-revolutionary-op...

[2] http://smartos.org/2012/07/27/corporate-open-source-anti-pat...

Re: VLC Core is LGPL

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If X was GPL, the company would not have touched it, and would have opted for some other project instead. All those contributions back to the X community would have been lost. It is important to understand the distinction between "open source" and "free software". Open source focuses on the benefits of "open" code and development and how it can create superior software. Free Software focuses on the ethical issues--…

> Open source focuses on the benefits of "open" code and development and how it can create superior software. Free Software focuses on the ethical issues---while free software developers certainly want contributors, the emphasis is on the fact that the software respects your freedom and, for that, it's far superior to any other proprietary alternative Well, the "far superior" part is just, like, your opinion, man. [t…

Mixing the concepts of functionality and freedom into one concept do not work.

If the program has more functionality, but limits the users in way of Intellectual freedom or Liberties, it doesnt make people more "freer to do stuff". What you got is a program with less freedom but more functionality. Two distinct property of the program. Let me make an exmaple.

Is a video editing program "very free" if it have every function in the world, best usability, and is perfect in every sense, but as a legal requirement it demands all copyright ownership of any video edited? Is that program more "free" than say VLMC? What if the proprietary did allow the users to retain the copyright, but, only if the video included a ad snippet? What if non-ad included was okey, but the video had to first to go a central censor bureau to check that no kittens was harmed? what if the video instead went to the local copyright bureau to be checked for any copyright infringement? What if it included a hidden water stamp?

Freedom is more than functionality.

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