Public bug reported: The vlfeat package provided by Ubuntu (and also Debian) has been stripped down by intentionally removing the SIFT implementation. This is what is written in the README.source file:
«The SIFT implementation was removed from the source due to patent issues. References to it have been removed from the toplevel demo script (vl_demo.m) and the toplevel documentation file (index.html) -- Dima Kogan <d...@secretsauce.net>, Thu, 7 Nov 2013 17:30:40 -0800» It is unclear whether these "patent issues" exist or not, at least because software patents are not even legal in a lot of countries. Moreover, there is no documentation whatsoever on how to add the missing functionality. I ended up downloading the source file and building custom deb packages, but this should not be needed by the average user. I am using Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty and the package without SIFT is octave- vlfeat 0.9.17+dfsg0-6build1. If these "issues" happen to be real, with good evidence, then im my opinion a script should be added to download the missing parts, like Ubuntu does with the deCSS library for encrypted DVDs. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04 Package: octave-vlfeat 0.9.17+dfsg0-6build1 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.46-generic 3.13.9 Uname: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3 Architecture: amd64 CurrentDesktop: Unity Date: Sat Apr 26 20:11:16 2014 InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-07-17 (648 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120425) SourcePackage: vlfeat UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2014-03-24 (33 days ago) ** Affects: vlfeat (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New ** Tags: amd64 apport-bug trusty ** Description changed: The vlfeat package provided by Ubuntu (and also Debian) has been - stripped down by purpotedly removing the SIFT implementation. This is + stripped down by intentionally removing the SIFT implementation. This is what is written in the README.source file: «The SIFT implementation was removed from the source due to patent issues. References to it have been removed from the toplevel demo script (vl_demo.m) and the toplevel documentation file (index.html) - -- Dima Kogan <d...@secretsauce.net>, Thu, 7 Nov 2013 17:30:40 -0800» + -- Dima Kogan <d...@secretsauce.net>, Thu, 7 Nov 2013 17:30:40 -0800» It is unclear whether these "patent issues" exist or not, at least because software patents are not even legal in a lot of countries. Moreover, there is no documentation whatsoever on how to add the missing functionality. I ended up downloading the source file and building custom deb packages, but this should not be needed by the average user. I am using Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty and the package without SIFT is octave- vlfeat 0.9.17+dfsg0-6build1. If these "issues" happen to be real, with good evidence, then im my opinion a script should be added to download the missing parts, like Ubuntu does with the deCSS library for encrypted DVDs. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04 Package: octave-vlfeat 0.9.17+dfsg0-6build1 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.46-generic 3.13.9 Uname: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3 Architecture: amd64 CurrentDesktop: Unity Date: Sat Apr 26 20:11:16 2014 InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-07-17 (648 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120425) SourcePackage: vlfeat UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2014-03-24 (33 days ago) -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1313166 Title: SIFT functionality is stripped out from VLFeat To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vlfeat/+bug/1313166/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs