Hi, all. This recently came up with a bug against gimp --- gimp contains source code to deal with GIF and TIFF files, and uses some LZW compression code to decompress them. (I'm not sure if it uses the same code to compress them; that might make a difference.) Until now, I simply split the plug-ins for gif and tiff out of the main package and put them into another package, gimp-nonfree, but I got a bug report tonight saying I need to change the upstream source to remove the gif and tiff code.
This all may become moot, as the GIMP developers are splitting all of the plug-ins from the rest of the source code soon, and I can convince them to make a non-free pristine source. But what *would* be the right thing to do? Modify the upstream source? Leave it alone? I don't know the exact legal ramifications of just *having* LZW source code, as opposed to actively using it to create compressed files. Anyone familiar with their patent? Ben -- Brought to you by the letters Y and X and the number 8. "You should be glad you don't have diaper rash. Mah Jongg." -- The Critic Ben Gertzfield <http://www.imsa.edu/~wilwonka/> Finger me for my public PGP key. I'm on FurryMUCK as Che, and EFNet and YiffNet IRC as Che_Fox.
