Bug#575575: Should in-source timidity be disabled?

[Manuel A. Fernandez Montecelo]

tags 575575 +moreinfo
stop


Hello Matthew,

I was thinking about disable the in-source use of timidity in
SDL_mixer, mostly because it's an in-source copy of the code (which
can make SDL_mixer and programs using it exploitable).  However I
don't know if this is possible, I don't know much about MIDI, and just
took over maintenance of this package. Can you help me to make some
informed decision?

I don't know if the native_midi_gpl would be enough, or if soundcards
nowadays do not provide this.  I think that ALSA prodives support (and
it appeared in the Linux scene much later than the bulk of SDL_mixer
development took place), but don't know if there's emulation in the
case that the soundcard lacks this support, and if it's any good (or
better than timidity, anyway).

So you seem more knowledgable than me in this area, please comment :)

Regards.