I haven't came accross a single rar file for years. Last was when I was a teenager in the mid/late 90's downloading pirated games/app.
Don't Use RAR
31–40 of 218 posts
Re: Don't Use RAR
#32The rar license prohibits writing a compatible compressor? What kind of nonsense is that? I clicked the license link and there is a scary looking anti-reverse-engineering clause, but 1) that sounds legally dubious given how the program is distributed; and 2) there is a FOSS decompressor, and studying that may be sufficient to write a compressor without examining the non-free official compressor. The article is right…
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Re: Don't Use RAR
#33The rar license prohibits writing a compatible compressor? What kind of nonsense is that? I clicked the license link and there is a scary looking anti-reverse-engineering clause, but 1) that sounds legally dubious given how the program is distributed; and 2) there is a FOSS decompressor, and studying that may be sufficient to write a compressor without examining the non-free official compressor. The article is right…
Microsoft ASF/WMA also has a similar limitation, where it disallows writing an open source implementation if you use the official format specification.
Luckily it is too mostly irrelevant nowadays.
Re: Don't Use RAR
#34WinRar at least is a much better UI than 7-Zip.
That's debatable, 7zip UI is servicable.
Re: Don't Use RAR
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
and? Everyone is using nginx and that was made by a Russian, does that mean we should stop using it? This is why 'guilt by association' doesn't work with your 'point' .
What if the parent comment mentioned this instead: Also WinRAR is a closed source Russian software.
To be fair so is AIMP.
Re: Don't Use RAR
#36The rar license prohibits writing a compatible compressor? What kind of nonsense is that? I clicked the license link and there is a scary looking anti-reverse-engineering clause, but 1) that sounds legally dubious given how the program is distributed; and 2) there is a FOSS decompressor, and studying that may be sufficient to write a compressor without examining the non-free official compressor. The article is right…
From the winrar download page you can download the binaries directly without agreeing to any license, which means its clauses wouldn't apply.
It's already been established in the courts that merely using a piece of software does not imply acceptance of licensing terms; the parties must actively agree to it. That's why so many companies push in-your-face agreements that you must actively click "I agree" to.
Re: Don't Use RAR
#37This is conflating archive format with compression algorithm. The very broad statement "7-Zip achieves a better compression ratio, but it is much slower to compress than RAR" should be demonstrated over all compression levels with a curve of compression-ratio vs time. I am skeptical RAR cannot be outperformed by 7zip in at least some situations. The license is the strongest argument to not use RAR.
> The license is the strongest argument to not use RAR.
Why? Most of the daily tools that keep business world running are closed source. Excel. Or Photoshop. Or Windows/MacOS itself. But RAR license and not being open source is now pushing it too far? Really?
Re: Don't Use RAR
#38Re: Don't Use RAR
#39The rar license prohibits writing a compatible compressor? What kind of nonsense is that? I clicked the license link and there is a scary looking anti-reverse-engineering clause, but 1) that sounds legally dubious given how the program is distributed; and 2) there is a FOSS decompressor, and studying that may be sufficient to write a compressor without examining the non-free official compressor. The article is right…
Microsoft ASF/WMA also has a similar limitation, where it disallows writing an open source implementation if you use the official format specification. Luckily it is too mostly irrelevant nowadays.
> Microsoft ASF/WMA also has a similar limitation,
Doesn't mean it would in court.
Re: Don't Use RAR
#40For my brothers birthday one year I bought him a license for RAR
So you're the one who kept the company running!