[Fsf-Debian] rar/unrar

[Daniel Martí]

Hello Bryan,

On Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 04:42:03PM -0400, Bryan Quigley wrote:
> I think it makes sense to remove both the unrar and rar nonfree programs
> from the nonfree repo in either Wheezy or Wheezy+1.  If not, we should
> investigate why so many users are installing unrar/rar.  Unrar has a number
> of Dependants that pull it in.  Many of them I don't understand why
> (Evince, Okular).

As far as I'm concerned the unrar-nonfree package is kept since the free
software replacement is not fully functional in all cases. For instance, if I
recall correctly the free one doesn't handle rar files with passwords very
well.

That being said, I suppose that's the reason why unrar-nonfree is still in the
repos. And that would also explain why Evince, Okular and other programs
prefer the nonfree package; because it can open every .rar file, not just the
unprotected ones. Though things might have changed lately and this reasoning
may be now obsolete - please let me know if that's the case.

Nevertheless you are right, sooner or later rar/unrar-nonfree has to go :)

Cheers!

-- 
Daniel Martí - mvdan at mvdan.cc - GPG 0x58BF72C3
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