[indiana-discuss] Including Sun Studio cc with Indiana

[Shawn Walker]

On 14/06/07, Stephen Lau <stevel at sun.com> wrote:
> Shawn Walker wrote:
> > On 14/06/07, Stephen Lau <stevel at sun.com> wrote:
> >> Alberto Ruiz wrote:
> >> > On this regard, I would like to ask Glynn and Ian; is Indiana intended
> >> > to be a fully open source distribution? If so, are we going to package
> >> > the Sun compilers? Are we going to use it just to create the binaries?
> >> > Are we going to use gcc until Sun releases the compilers as open source
> >> > somtime in the future (I don't even know if there are any plans on
> >> > release the compilers though)?
> >>
> >> I thought I had read that they were intending it to be a fully freely
> >> redistributable distribution; as of now, it can't be fully open source
> >> due to the required closed binaries.
> >
> > As long as there is some sanity to those limits; in other words I
> > don't even want to hear one complaint about it including binary blob
> > network video or whatever drivers. That is one thing I am absolutely
> > sick of hearing excuses about from the Linux community.
> >
> > I want to use my hardware, all I care about is that it works, it
> > should not be the right of the developers to tell me what drivers and
> > I can cannot use for *my* hardware.
> >
> > Likewise, if only a binary driver is available and no open equivalent
> > exists, its better to support the hardware in some form that not at
> > all.
>
> Right - and that is going to depend on the distribution license around
> said "binary blog"
>
> e.g.: stuff in closed-bins is under the OBL, which allows free
> redistribution.
>
> stuff tossed into SX?E like StarOffice, the NVIDIA driver, and Studio do
> not allow free redistribution.

Yes, I know. My point is that as long as we have the right to
redistribute, we should be able to. The fact that is a binary blob
should not be the sole determining factor in its distribution.

I look for the nVidia drivers to be redistributable soon given than
nVidia folks have been saying we should be able to. Speaking of which,
can someone at Sun please prod nVidia *hard* about that? :P

-- 
"Less is only more where more is no good." --Frank Lloyd Wright

Shawn Walker, Software and Systems Analyst
binarycrusader at gmail.com - http://binarycrusader.blogspot.com/