Freedom Issue #674
[ruby] nonfree file in the source code
100%
Description
The ext/json/generator/generator.c
file from Ruby's source code contains this copyright notice:
/* * Copyright 2001-2004 Unicode, Inc. * * Disclaimer * * This source code is provided as is by Unicode, Inc. No claims are * made as to fitness for any particular purpose. No warranties of any * kind are expressed or implied. The recipient agrees to determine * applicability of information provided. If this file has been * purchased on magnetic or optical media from Unicode, Inc., the * sole remedy for any claim will be exchange of defective media * within 90 days of receipt. * * Limitations on Rights to Redistribute This Code * * Unicode, Inc. hereby grants the right to freely use the information * supplied in this file in the creation of products supporting the * Unicode Standard, and to make copies of this file in any form * for internal or external distribution as long as this notice * remains attached. */
I sent an email to FSF about this and they told me that the limitation of permissions to "the creation of products supporting the Unicode Standard" makes the code non-free.
I think I know how to fix it without breaking existing software written in Ruby so I'll try to prepare a patch.
History
Updated by Anonymous about 9 years ago
I made the fix available at https://gitorious.org/niitotantei/abslibre.git, branch issue-#674.
This fix completely removes the C code handling JSON from Ruby. A free variant written in pure Ruby is packaged instead (actually both the C and Ruby code are part of the same gem). I made a few adjustments here and there so the existing software should work fine. The fix is a bit ugly though; I had to include a prepackaged gem in the repository because I don't quite know how to build it during Ruby build process. Anyway, I did a few tests and it looks like Ruby's functionality isn't affected by the fix.
Updated by Anonymous about 9 years ago
- Subject changed from [ruby] non-free file in the source code to [ruby] nonfree file in the source code
Updated by Anonymous about 9 years ago
- Assignee changed from Anonymous to Anonymous
- Status changed from open to in progress
I'll blacklist it and add our libre version based on your version! :)
Updated by Anonymous about 9 years ago
- % Done changed from 0 to 100
- Status changed from in progress to fixed
Updated by lukeshu almost 7 years ago
Upstream bug in Ruby: https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/11844
Upstream bug in json gem: https://github.com/flori/json/issues/277
It seems that Unicode upstream has re-licensed everything to be DFSG (and thus FSDG) compatible, and we are now waiting on verification from the json gem devs that generator.c can be re-licensed.
Updated by lukeshu about 1 month ago
I have filed an upstream PR to replace the non-free code with my own version: https://github.com/flori/json/pull/567