Re: The end of GIF format [was : Dangerous precedent being set - possible serious violation of the GPL ]
I have already made a little (ok, very little) effort in this way, and Ive sent patches to xearth 1.1 so the future version of xearth may be finaly free (+jpeg, +png, -gif) You can read gifs freely. Writing them is claimed to violate a patent which is held by two seperate companies (an impossibility supposedly..) -- - Joseph Carter GnuPG public key: 1024D/DCF9DAB3, 2048g/3F9C2A43 - [EMAIL PROTECTED] 20F6 2261 F185 7A3E 79FC 44F9 8FF7 D7A3 DCF9 DAB3 -- MFGolfBal rit/ara: There's something really demented about UNIX underwear... pgp6ZMASsgvLQ.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: The end of GIF format [was : Dangerous precedent being set - possible serious violation of the GPL ]
On Fri, Dec 03, 1999 at 09:50:43AM -0800, Joseph Carter wrote: I have already made a little (ok, very little) effort in this way, and Ive sent patches to xearth 1.1 so the future version of xearth may be finaly free (+jpeg, +png, -gif) You can read gifs freely. Writing them is claimed to violate a patent which is held by two seperate companies (an impossibility supposedly..) This program generates pictures. Current version : X, ppm, gif Patched: X, ppm, png, jpeg Author told me it is for non-com-use-only due to Uninys patent only.
Re: The end of GIF format [was : Dangerous precedent being set - possible serious violation of the GPL ]
On Thu, Dec 02, 1999 at 09:21:51PM +0100, Tomasz Wegrzanowski wrote: I know, this will be highly controversive : SERIOUS SUGGESTION FOR WOODY : we should get rid of all gif-making packages except 1 package a2gif in non-free, which will allow you to convert other images to gifs if you REALLY need it. In description of this package there should be : `using GIFs is HIGHLY discouraged due to patent problems. Consider chosing another format (ex. jpeg or png)' I disagree. By the time woody is released, it's likely the gif patent will have expired. -- Raul
