[vlc-devel] RoarAudio plugin for VLC

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

	Hello,

Le samedi 1 octobre 2011 16:59:33 Philipp Schafft, vous avez écrit :
> maister wrote a VLC plugin[0][1] to output to RoarAudio[2] using
> libroar[4]. I would like to see this included in upstream VLC.
> What is the process to get this done?

Submit git-formatted a patch against vlc.git to vlc-devel.

> However I currently see a problem: if VLC moves over to LGPL the plugin
> may not be compatible as libroar is not compatible ([5] or [6], don't
> know which applies).

LibVLC is intended to move over to LGPLv2.1+. That remains upward compatible 
with GPLv3 as before. However, binary distributions of VLC and LibVLC would 
then be GPLv3+, instead of GPLv2+ and LGPLv2.1+ respestively, if they include 
the RoarAudio plug-in.

> libroar is GPLv3. There is µRoar[7], a
> implementation of the RoarAudio protocol for license incompatible
> software. It is under LGPL v3 or later. Still this would require rewrite
> of lage parts of the plugin.
> 
> What is the process of this possible change of VLC to LGPL? Haven't
> found up to date news on the page. Should commiting this plugin maybe be
> delayed until the situation is clear again?

VideoLAN does not want to keep chasing a moving target. Any new contributor 
thus needs to clearly state if (s)he accepts the LGPL relicensing.

I understand that, if (s)he does not accept the LGPL relicensing, then (s)he 
will only be allowed to contribute within the GPL sandbox. That means plug-ins 
for the user interface and/or dependant on GPL libraries such as libpostproc 
or libsamplerate.

However, a contributor that does not state his/her position on LGPL (whether 
for or against) will be denied commit completely.

-- 
Rémi Denis-Courmont
http://www.remlab.net/
http://fi.linkedin.com/in/remidenis