VLC on versiontracker?

[Bill Eldridge]

Argh, Netscape mail just ate 2 long responese here,
so I'll summarize.

Part of the problem is Versiontracker that doesn't
distinguish between "company" and "packager" (why
even "company" - what about "developer". They also
don't distinguish between "free", LGPL, GPL, etc.
Probably the person who packaged your software
is a Mac enthusiast having fun with no intent to
defraud or insult, and should be treated as such.

DJ claims no real value in the installer - I don't know.
I couldn't parse the dmg disk image on my Linux box,
and my guess is the packager's doing it in what he thinks
is the "OS X" way. If he's missing out, send him a nice
note suggesting a better way.

CVS? Many projects on the internet have dead or static
releases, and all interesting work is in CVS.  (ffmpeg
is one that comes to mind). Many of us want the interesting
features that tend to live in CVS and not the boring
stuff in the release schedule. Of the 5 comments on
the Versiontracker page, 2 were very enthusiastic about
the DivX support. Perhaps it should work better for
a release. DJ notes he's done unauthorized CVS releases
for his Samba-related software. Well, this person might
not be the aware netizen DJ now is, and would respond
to some positive cooperative communication from the
videolan folks.

I would suggest talking with the packager and figuring
out how to get "Test Test Test, DivX not working right yet"
on his CVS installs if this is your concern about the CVS.
Telling him he can't release CVS's is 1) not legally binding
as long as he follows the GPL, and 2) counter-productive
to finding an enthusiastic user-base for your software.
You can even throw in an obvious disclaimer in your OS X
CVS version that you take out in a release. Since the guy's
just packaging, that disclaimer would be there for all to
see:

VLC Video Lan Client - Mac OS X TEST version (DivX to be improved)

The only big issue I see is if the licensing/author information
is not included in his packaging.

There's a lot of good hard work here, but part of the spirit of
the internet and the license of the GPL is that people might use
things a bit different than you intended. I'd say work with that
energy for the best.
-- 
Bill Eldridge
Radio Free Asia
bill at rfa.org

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