Re: [mat-dev] [Tails-dev] What is the status and license of …

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Author: jvoisin
Date:  
To: mat-dev, Chris Marusich
Subject: Re: [mat-dev] [Tails-dev] What is the status and license of MAT?
Hello Chris,

>> Chris Marusich:
>>> I've noticed that this release's LICENSE file contains the text of
>>> version 2 of the GNU GPL. However, it isn't clear if the software
>>> is available under "just the GPLv2", or "the GPLv2 or any later
>>> version". Can you clarify which of these is the intended
>>> interpretation?
>
> README.md seems to suggest it's GPL v2 only. That's how I've
> interpreted it for the Debian packaging.


This is how it's meant to be interpreted. I can always change the
wording if it's bothering you.

>>> Do you
>>> still believe that users should avoid using it, and if so, why?
>
> Personally, I think that users who need it should use it as AFAIK
> there's nothing better around there anyway.


I'm currently writing MAT2 (https://0xacab.org/jvoisin/mat2), so you can
either:

- Package MAT, knowing that it's not actively maintained anymore, that
it doesn't run on Python3 (Python2 won't be supported in two years:
https://legacy.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0373/), and has some known
limitations (like leaving metadata in file embedded in PDF, like
images). But it's working™, and comes with a GUI.

- Wait until I polish MAT2 a bit more, decide if I want to write a GUI
or only file-manager extensions, write them, and publish an alpha, then
a beta, then a stable.

I guess that intrigeri is right: you should go with MAT, and once MAT2
is stable, switch to it if you want.

Thank you for your interest in packaging MAT ♥