Re: Softwares without source code - no tag?

[Greg Troxel <gdt%ir.bbn.com@localhost>]

Cem Kayali <cemkayali%eticaret.com.tr@localhost> writes:

[dropping netbsd-users because this is solely a pkgsrc issue]

> I'm aware of that, NetBSD pkgsrc installation scripts requires
> acceptable_license variable in mk.conf or command line if there are
> license restrictions. Almost all of closed-source / binary softwares
> have license restrictions, and requires user to accept license (ie;
> www/opera), as clue, but 'i assume' there are some without license
> restrictions but without source code - distributed in binary format
> only.

Closed-source is not to me a precise term, so I'll avoid it, but in the
case of a program available only as a binary, to not have a license tag
the binary would have to be available under an open source or free
license, including the right to make and distribute derivative works.
That would have to be a BSD type license, since binary-only doesn't fit
with GPL.  I have not yet come across such a program.

The pkgsrc license framework is intended to enable people to understand
the licensing of software they build, and to enable them to avoid
building software with non-free licenses without having instructed
pkgsrc to do so.  It is not intended, so far, to avoid building packages
without source code.

It seems like unneeded complexity to add a tag for upstream distfiles
with binary only, because almost every such package has a non-Free
license anyway.  There are packages with free licenses available as
binaries, and most of those are named -bin (e.g., firefox, openoffice).

Joerg already answered about eggs.

>          I would like to know, whether there is/could be a tag for
> closed-source / binary softwares. As far as i know, there is no such
> tag. Also i noticed that NetBSD pkgsrc page says 'It (pkgsrc
> collection) is used to enable freely available software to be
> configured...' using the word 'freely' which means free to use and
> open-source (with source code). A non-free software should be tagged i

In that sentence, freely available does not mean Free.  We should
probably fix it.   It means "stuff you can get somehow".

> Forgive me if this issue is out-of pkgsrc concept and principals... I
> searched through FreeBSD ports documentation and they do tag only
> license and distribution restrictions.

No problem; it's a fair question.