[Pw2-botai] Pacwars2

[Mark H. <mh...@ti...>]

Sorry if this email reaches you in error. Please let me know if it does.
If I have missed any important people off the message recipients, please
let me know. I apologise for sending this message to so many addresses -
I was not sure who the correct recipient was.

hi,
  I'm interested in packaging the Pacwars2 game for the Debian GNU/Linux
distribution. I have looked at the program in some detail, but
unfortunately, it seems that more work needs to be done before it can be
included in the Debian distribution.=20

* Updates. I think the pacwars2 game requires a few updates to enable it
to run with the versions of libraries installed on the Debian system.
These probably only require small changes to the source and configure
scripts. In particular, it appears to be broken with paragui 1.0, libsdl
1.2.

* License issues. To be included in Debian, all licenses have to be
investigated and must conform to the Debian free software guidelines.
The seem to be a number of issues outstanding:
 - SeeR scripting library. This license was ambiguous. I have contacted
the author, who has now released version 0.95a inder a BSD style
license. Pacwars needs updating to use this system. Additionally, I
would like to say that it is probably better to rely on SeeR being
installed on the system (have a check for it in the conf script) rather
than including it in the source directory.  FYI, the SeeR author has
stated that he will be doing mre work on the library in November.
 - Mappy Library. I have not found information about this. Would it be
possible for you to confirm what license is used for this. Also, please
state where it is used in pacwars (is it just for creating maps, or is
it used at runtime)
 - bass sound system. This is not compatible with the Debian free
software guidelines as it restricts free use to freeware programs. How
is the bass sound system used within pacwars? would it be possible to
replace it?
 - CodeJock Library. Please let me know how this is used within the
program.=20
 - The Ultimate Packer for eXecutables v1.0.2,
NullSoft NSIS installer
  If these are only used for creating installer packages, then they
would be alright. Let me know if they are used internally by the
program.

I do hope you will consider working with me to get pacwars2 into the
Debian distribution. Pacwars2 appears to be a great game. With a little
bit of work, this could be accessible to far more people.

I look forward to hearing from you, whether the response is positive or
negative.
--=20

+----------------------------------------------+
| Mark Howard               cam.ac.uk   mh344@ |
| http://www.tildemh.com    tildemh.com    mh@ |
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