Bug#372186: grub2: powerpc version depends on ofpathname

[Roger Leigh]

Otavio Salvador <otavio at debian.org> writes:

> Roger Leigh <rleigh at debian.org> writes:
>
>> Package: grub2
>> Version: 1.94-1
>> Severity: normal
>>
>> grub-install depends on the utility "ofpathname" in powerpc-utils
>> (http://ppc64-utils.ozlabs.org/).
>>
>> This is not the same as the powerpc-utils in Debian, and it is
>> licensed under the IBM Common Public License.  It's not clear
>> if this is DFSG-free (I asked on -legal).
>
> Can you notice us when you know the anwser?

I got one reply back.  There are other CPL licensed projects in main
already, so I can package it.

>> This might be substituted with the "ofpath" utility which is
>> part of yaboot, but they are completely independent
>> implementations which are not completely identical.
>
> How difficult might be move for it? Also, might be good  to talk with
> GRUB developers and ask them to support both if possible.

I will probably take over yaboot maintenance (it's orphaned at the
moment), at which point I can look at moving it to powerpc-utils, or
simply copying it over.  It's GPL, so it (with the copyright holders'
approval) could be dropped straight into grub2 CVS.

The syntax of the two is slightly different (one has a trailing ':').
The yaboot version is better at disk devices, whereas the IBM version
is more modern (using sysfs) and supports a wider range of hardware.
It might be best to merge the best features of both projects; I'll
discuss it with both upstreams (the licensing might be an issue).

For yaboot, integration with debian-installer was an issue, so it
reimplements shell features which the IBM version does not.  This
might also be an issue with grub2.


Regards,
Roger

-- 
Roger Leigh
                Printing on GNU/Linux?  http://gutenprint.sourceforge.net/
                Debian GNU/Linux        http://www.debian.org/
                GPG Public Key: 0x25BFB848.  Please sign and encrypt your mail.
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 188 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/pkg-grub-devel/attachments/20060609/458767ec/attachment-0002.pgp