6:28 p.m.
PATCH 21.5
The GIF patents have expired. There's no reason to avoid using an
external GIF library anymore. I would like to throw out our internal
GIF support, because the source files have no license information in
them. They are part of the GPLv3 blocker list.
As it turns out, the source files we are using were forked from
giflib, which is commonly used to supply GIF support (Emacs uses it,
for example). However, we've missed out on further development of
that library. The library is currently distributed with an MIT
license, so our internal GIF support is probably okay, but I'd rather
let someone else maintain the code.
This patch removes the internal GIF support code and attempts to find
and use giflib for GIF support. Lightly tested, but more feedback is
welcome.
--
Jerry James
http://www.jamezone.org/
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4 a.m.
New subject: [A] External GIF support [Request for Comment]
APPROVE
Redirected discussion to xemacs-beta, this needs checking IMO.
Specifically, people on Windows, and non-Linux non-*BSD Unix which
might not have giflib available, or not have it where Jerry thinks you
should have it. :-) (Note you should wait a bit before updating as
Jerry hasn't committed yet.)
Removing the internal support seems a bit drastic. Why not leave it
in for say six months, but completely #ifndef USE_INTERNAL_GIF'ed out
(and with a comment saying "if nobody reports a need by 2010/03/01,
please remove this obsolete code"? If somebody wants to get running
with GIF in a hurry but doesn't have an immediately accessible giflib,
they can just add a
#define USE_INTERNAL_GIF 1
to src/config.h by hand. No need to autoconfiscate this
"USE_INTERNAL_GIF" hack.
Jerry James writes:
PATCH 21.5
The GIF patents have expired. There's no reason to avoid using an
external GIF library anymore. I would like to throw out our internal
GIF support, because the source files have no license information in
them. They are part of the GPLv3 blocker list.
As it turns out, the source files we are using were forked from
giflib, which is commonly used to supply GIF support (Emacs uses it,
for example). However, we've missed out on further development of
that library. The library is currently distributed with an MIT
license, so our internal GIF support is probably okay, but I'd rather
let someone else maintain the code.
This patch removes the internal GIF support code and attempts to find
and use giflib for GIF support. Lightly tested, but more feedback is
welcome.
--
Jerry James
http://www.jamezone.org/
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6:17 p.m.
New subject: [A] External GIF support [Request for Comment]
On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 9:00 PM, Stephen J. Turnbull<stephen(a)xemacs.org> wrote:
APPROVE
Redirected discussion to xemacs-beta, this needs checking IMO.
Absolutely! Please, would a few of you apply the patch and let me
know if you run into any problems?
Specifically, people on Windows, and non-Linux non-*BSD Unix which
might not have giflib available, or not have it where Jerry thinks you
should have it. :-) (Note you should wait a bit before updating as
Jerry hasn't committed yet.)
Yes, I especially could use some feedback from the Windows crowd. I
tried to update the Windows build files in a way that seemed
appropriate, but I use Linux exclusively these days, both at home and
at work. I remember from my days of hacking Cygwin support several
years ago that there is some place where I'm supposed to put a giflib
tar file, but I don't remember where that place is. Could someone jog
my memory, please?
Removing the internal support seems a bit drastic. Why not leave it
in for say six months, but completely #ifndef USE_INTERNAL_GIF'ed out
(and with a comment saying "if nobody reports a need by 2010/03/01,
please remove this obsolete code"? If somebody wants to get running
with GIF in a hurry but doesn't have an immediately accessible giflib,
they can just add a
#define USE_INTERNAL_GIF 1
to src/config.h by hand. No need to autoconfiscate this
"USE_INTERNAL_GIF" hack.
Mostly because I don't want to wait until 2010/03/01 for GPLv3. :-)
It doesn't seem like such a drastic step to me because (1) we mostly
rely on PNG support, not so much on GIF support [1]; (2) Emacs relies
solely on giflib for its GIF support [2]; (3) giflib is available for
a wide range of platforms; and (4) the change is to be made to the
beta version of XEmacs.
If you insist, I'll add the USE_INTERNAL_GIF hack, but I'd rather get
the license-free code [3] out of our repository sooner rather than
later, and deal with any problems that causes as we identify them.
Actually, I do know of a problem. The animated GIF support is
haywire: they look like Krazy Kops. Must be something wrong with the
timer. I'll have a look before I commit anything.
Footnotes:
[1] There are no GIF files in the core distribution. On the other
hand, xslt-process, jde, and liece contain GIF files.
[2] And they support Windows and a number of non-Linux OSes, too.
[3] Speaking of license-free code, is anyone in touch with Bill Perry?
--
Jerry James
http://www.jamezone.org/
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