Subject: Re: [bug#52109] [PATCH] gnu: Add unrar-free.

From: Liliana Marie Prikler <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2023 07:22:17 +0100

Am Mittwoch, dem 11.01.2023 um 23:31 +0100 schrieb zimoun:
> Hi all,
> 
> On Tue, 10 Jan 2023 at 11:47, Maxim Cournoyer
> <[email-masked]> wrote:
> 
> > What we are discussing here is whether there's a problem or not
> > with the FSDG and the name 'unrar-free'.  Given the argument that
> > 'unrar-free' package could steer users toward 'unrar' non-free
> > (which is not available in Guix) is a bit of a stretch (as you
> > admitted), I don't think it's ground to refuse its inclusion in
> > Guix.
> 
> I agree with Maxim’s arguments.  From my point of view, unrar-free
> respects FSDG – and since it is present in Trisquel, I assume this
> understanding of FSDG is shared – to some extent.
> 
> Even, I would say the Liliana’s opposite argument: it liberates user
> from the non-free unrar by offering a free alternative.  And it is
> the case for all the free re-implementations, no?
>From my point of view, it really doesn't.  Now potentially, there's an
argument to be had that unrar-free acts as a "drop-in replacement" for
scripts, Makefiles etc. that assume the presence of the non-free unrar,
i.e. when you assume that you're bound to unrar's CLI.  But(!)
libarchive already liberates you from that very CLI – perhaps not by
offering the exact same interface (which for the record unrar-nonfree
also doesn't), but by offering a program that can open some of the
archives (on top of handling zip, tar, etc.).  As for the actually
supported archives, they're the same for both CLIs, so no real
liberation is happening on that front.

Somewhat ironically, if unrar-free was using its own experimental
libarchive that has some patches it wishes to upstream, which improve
the handling of some RAR quirks, I wouldn't be as opposed to including
it.  But as it stands right now, I see it as little more than a piece
of software that makes people go "but how do I get the _real_ unrar?",
cue people sending each other advice on a certain channel dedicated to
non-free software.

Cheers