I don't know if anyone knows how to get in contact with the ratDVD developer, but if he reads this, or if someone can inform him please warn him that he is violating the GPL license. 1: He distributes libdvnav on the Code page. However he does not distribute a copy of the license of libdvdnav (and neither the AUTHORS file). He should either include those, or just sent patches to the libdvdnav developers and link to the official libdvdnav. (This violation is a certainty) 2: His filters clearly use GPL'ed code. Therefore the same files should also be included with the dshow filters he is distributing on those page. I'm not sure about the main application, since i do not run windows, but i'm guessing that the same applies. 3: Now, i'm not sure about this, but it does seem very likely. He is using libdvdnav. That means something in his application/filters is linking against that sourcecode. that means that that entire part of the code that is linked against the GPL'ed code needs to be licensed under the GPL as well. (we are probably talking about xebnavigation.ax here) This goes for EVERY form of distribution. no matter of later intentions by the developer or if it's a beta version or not. EVERY form of distribution is required to follow the same rules. I wouldn't be surprised if ALL the downloads on the ratdvd website are in violation atm and would need to be pulled from the site and made compliant with the distribution rules of the GPL Now I think ratDVD is pretty cool actually, though I prefer matroska myself. So i'm not saying that I don't like ratDVD and that it should be gone. I'm just saying that in it's current distribution form, some components are violating the license of some of the code that they are using. Much like the CherryOS vs. PearPC case actually (though they tried to hide the fact).. Please developers, read the licence of the code you use and follow it. It really shouldn't be too much trouble to make ratDVD be compliant with the restrictions of the GPL.
i know that it was also stated on the website that more of the code would be put on the website when he's done messing with it, i do agree that all the GPL stuff should be properly in place, but maybe he's just waiting till he's got the code all clean and free of other "stuff". I know that the GPL license doesnt really have much of anything to do with the actual code or anything, just give him a little bit to get everything straightend out (though it shouldve been before the first release)
Like i said. this is explicitly NOT allowed by the GPL license. The license explicitly requires to leave these documents in place when you redistribute the software. He removed them from his distribution. GPL requires that you leave the license present and obide to it's limitation at ALL times. This is mostly to prevent someone from endlessly bringing out BETA's that don't fall under the license requirements and never really releasing a final product that does abide with the license. EVERY form of distribution needs to follow the license. Like I said it's really easy for ratDVD. He actually made it harder to himself, by removing the files from his private libdvdnav version. I do not care about his intentions. Intentions are always better then the reality. The developer needs to clean this up before distributing more of the product. Many people have worked on the libdvdnav product and their names and wishes are now being ignored by the developer of ratDVD. That is unrespectful at the very least and illegal on top of that. If the dvdnav developers were a company with a very clear legal position no one would ever dare to do such a thing with their public code. But since it's GPL ppl think it is less important to listen to the wishes of the original authors. It's an insult even though probably unintended.
I fully agree with you, this stuff shouldve been cleared up before he released anything....all i can hope is that it is cleared up before he releases his next version......from what he said on his website, he frequents these forums, so hopefully he catches this thread and fixes it before it goes any further.
