[I'm not sure whether this request should go here or to wnpp, since Inform 7 seems not really to be an upgrade, but a whole new system, though I understand it is still built on Inform 6.] Inform 7 is now available under what seem to be DFSG-compatible license terms, with a mixture of the Inform 6 license and GPL. The GUI available for Windows and Mac OS X is not ported to Linux, but there's a CLI. Since Inform 7 seems to be an important development, it would be nice to have it in Debian.
Sorry about that. In fact, you have to apply for permission to make derivative works. Nonetheless, if it's OK to distribute Inform 6 as non-free, the same should be true for Inform 7; the terms are substantially the same.
Hi, Inform7 is a group of several pieces of software including: - a GUI to edit Inform7 source code - the 'ni' Inform7 -> Inform6 "compiler" / translator - the usual Inform6 core to build game binaries (Z-Machine or Glulx VM) Looking at http://inform7.com/sources/i6n/ the Inform6 package is now marked as: Licence: Copyright 1993-2009 by Graham Nelson; published under the original Inform licence (see the Inform Designer's Manual, fourth edition, 2001), or under the Artistic License 2.0, at the user's choice http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html lists the AL2.0 as "a free software license, compatible with the GPL thanks to the relicensing option in section 4(c)(ii)." Source available at: http://www.inform7.com/sources/inform6/inform6.zip (though without any licensing information) So it looks like Inform6 is free software eventually. What about the other components? - GUI: http://inform7.com/sources/interfaces/ refers to a "Gnome for Linux" GUI which is GPL3 http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnome-inform7 - ni: http://inform7.com/sources/webs/ sadly mentions it's "Not yet published. This is the largest and the most experimental of Inform's components; a long-term project of rewriting and clarifying ni for publication is now, as of April 2009, about two-thirds done." The GUI above ships a binary in its packages. So AFAICS, Inform7 is "mostly" free, and Inform6 completely free.
Only the Inform6 compiler itself is under the Artistic License 2. Inform7 also has a similar library called "I6 Template" and licensed under AL2.0, but it's a different one. So there's progress, but AFAICS Inform6 is still non-free. Currently the best we can do is moving the compiler itself to contrib.
I just compiled Inform source code like http://ifarchive.plover.net/if-archive/games/source/inform/freefall.inf using the bare Inform 6.31N compiler, since this game doesn't rely on the standard library. So maybe it would make sense to split the package into inform6-compiler (in free) and inform6-library (in non-free). Thoughts?
The painting of the Forth railway bridge is, in fact, currently expected to finish in 2012. Similarly, the end-to-end rewrite of Inform’s core is now about three-quarters complete and will culminate in its publication under the Artistic License 2.0, when it will, I believe, be one of the largest literate programs in the world.
Hi, just for the record, the inform 6 code has been put in a github repository https://github.com/DavidKinder/Inform6 linked from http://inform7.com/sources/i6n/. Only the latter specifies the license (AL 2.0), but I pointed it out to them that it would be nice if the license could be included in the source repo itself: https://github.com/DavidKinder/Inform6/issues/1 So lets hope that the inform 7 release will happen soon, and that we can have all of inform in Debian main. Greetings, Joachim
That report was closed the following year, without any explanation. Could you re-start the discussion, preferably on that same upstream bug report? If requests to get a clear grant of license are rejected, we should at least have a clear rationale from the copyright holder recorded at that bug report. (I neither have nor want a GitHub account).
Hi, Am Dienstag, den 07.10.2014, 09:09 +1100 schrieb Ben Finney: I think the explanation is https://github.com/DavidKinder/Inform6/commit/cb81f1045fcb445ae2d160c13979b61abec52b6f which is is probably good enough. (It could be better, e.g. a notice in each and every file... but hey, at leas something to work with) Greetings, Joachim
Thanks. Could you modify the upstream bug report so that it shows the bug is resolved by that commit? Currently the report gives no indication why it was closed.
Another lack is insufficient clarify to know what it is that is
actually licensed. The text added in that commit begins:
Inform 6 is published under the original Inform licence (see the
Inform Designer's Manual, fourth edition, 2001), or under the
Artistic License 2.0, at the user's choice.
without clarifying what constitutes “Inform 6”.
Over at bug#484336 <URL:https://bugs.debian.org/484336#30>, we learn
that a some different repositories have more specific license terms for
what is also presumably Inform 6.
At <URL:https://github.com/DavidGriffith/inform6unix>, which declares
<URL:https://github.com/DavidGriffith/inform6unix/blob/master/VERSION>
it is “Inform version 6.32, library version 6/11.”, we see:
The compiler and standard library for Inform6 are licensed under
1) The traditional Inform license as described by the DM4, or
2) The Artistic License 2.0 (see ARTISTIC).
The user is free to choose which license to accept, i.e., free to choose
either set of terms and conditions.
<URL:https://github.com/DavidGriffith/inform6unix/commit/0088b76941a2c5b44b7491fb239730259dd6974d>
At <URL:https://github.com/DavidGriffith/inform6lib>, which declares
<URL:https://github.com/DavidGriffith/inform6lib/blob/master/README.txt>
that “This is version 6/12 of the Inform Library”, we see:
The Inform 6 Library is licensed under either
1) The traditional Inform license as described by the DM4, or
2) The Artistic License 2.0 (see ARTISTIC).
The user is free to choose which license to accept, i.e., free to choose
either set of terms and conditions.
<URL:https://github.com/DavidGriffith/inform6lib/commit/c676cda8a96829afb58f4660e1392dbae9d732bc>
Do either of those give us enough to package a complete Inform 6
(compiler and standard library) in Debian under free software terms?
I have announced <URL:https://bugs.debian.org/805704> my Intent To Package Inform6 for Debian. The original intent of this bug report, to package the fundamentally different Inform 7 system, should now be a RFP for that package. I will reassign this bug report accordingly.
Control: reassign -1 wnpp
Control: notfound -1 inform/6.30-2.1
Control: retitle -1 RFP: inform7 -- Inform 7 interactive fiction design system
I'm making the judgement that this is, in fact, an RFP for the
fundamentally different Inform 7 software.
Package name: inform6
Version: 7.x
Upstream developer: Inform project
URL: http://inform7.com/
License: Artistic License 2.0
Programming language: Inform 6
Description: Inform 7 interactive fiction design system
Inform 7 is a design system for interactive fiction based on
natural language. It is a radical reinvention of the way
interactive fiction is designed, guided by contemporary work
in semantics and by the practical experience of some of the
world's best-known writers of IF.
Inform 7 is released piecemeal <URL:http://inform7.com/sources/>, with
many necessary components not yet released in source form at all.
People hoping to see this in Debian will, it seems, need to be patient
with the upstream developers.
I agree. It will need to be a distinct package, though, as the
‘inform’ package is soon to be renamed ‘inform6’ to reflect its focus
only on the Inform 6 system.
with patient As an update it appears that Inform7 was fully open sourced under the artistic public license with redistribution of derived works permission included. From https://github.com/ganelson/inform "As from the first date of this repository becoming public, 28 April 2022, the Package is placed under the Artistic License 2.0."
That does seem clear; the full text at that URL (a couple of paragraphs) seems at first read to grant the necessary permissions for free software. Great news, thank you!