[Dev] Parabola stance on game assets

pribib pribib at bluehome.net
Thu Sep 27 09:43:04 GMT 2018


I think it is clear I am referring to programs like the ones included in 
the packages I have already mentioned - OpenRa and OpenMW. When you 
first open OpenRa it gives you two options, both of which "fetch .. on 
demand" some "freeware" and there is a quit option which to me would 
seem that it is "suggesting", "fetching" and "installing them 
automatically" and should also be removed from Parabola.

Is the OpenMW importer "directly leading to non-free software" because 
its purpose is to import non free artwork, or is it "merely allow them 
to be used if users acquires them on their own" as it is not fetching 
them on command?

You highlight the distinction by saying "importing assets is not the 
same as indexing them and fetching them on command" yet for some reason 
there is a program that downloads assets from a server automatically in 
the repo while the one that arguably only imports the assets when a user 
has acquired them on their own has been specifically patched to remove 
this functionality.

I think that because there are evidently developers who are or have been 
drawing the line at different points it would be good to get some 
confirmation from other developers on where this line is by using the 
examples we have to hand, even if only to say "i agree with bill-auger" 
so that users can continue to create appropriate package requests, bug 
reports and the workload required to assist Parabola in being what it 
wants to be.


On 27/09/18 09:52, bill-auger wrote:
> On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 03:20:12 +0100 Adam wrote:
>> So would this include programs that enable people to import assets?
> importing assets is not the same as indexing them and fetching them on
> command - any program that can downlaod can "import" - those are nearly
> synonyms - wget http://blobs.com/nonfree.jpg is "importing assets"; but
> thats no reason to remove wget from the repos - the key thing is that
> wget did not help search or suggest or constrain you what can be
> downloaded and what can not - clicking any link in a web browser is
> "importing assets" - the difference is whether or not that program
> suggested, fetched, and installed them automatically; for example like
> firefox's built-in add-ons GUI does - parabola has to remove that
> feature
>
> there is an article on the parabola wiki that draws those lines a
> bit more clearly
>
> https://wiki.parabola.nu/Degrees_of_Non-Free_Software_Toleration
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