[Nix-dev] Automatic download option for "requireFile"

[Thomas Strobel]

Hi,

On 02/23/2015 02:08 PM, Eelco Dolstra wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On 22/02/15 19:51, Vladimír Čunát wrote:
>
>> On 02/22/2015 11:26 AM, Tomasz Kontusz wrote:
>>> Talking about laws: are there any guidelines about what software can go
>>> into nixpkgs/can be distributed by hydra?
>>> I know many distributions try to somehow separate the software illegal
>>> in USA (mostly DRM-related/patented stuff).
>> Basically anything is accepted in nixpkgs, even non-redistributable stuff as you
>> see (why else requireFile). 
> FWIW, I'm fairly strongly against inclusion of any package that cannot be
> installed automatically, i.e., anything that uses requireFile. The reason being
> that if a package shows up in "nix-env -qa", then "nix-env -i <package>" should
> Just Work.
>
> There are some unfortunate historic exceptions (like the Oracle JDK) but we
> should try not to proliferate them.
>
> We probably also shouldn't include packages that require obtaining a license key
> or something similar. I.e. packages should be usable by everybody.
>


So, how should we deal with software that can be downloaded "freely",
but where the user has to accept a certain license?
Is the nixpkgs option "config.allowUnfree = true;" meant exactly for
that cases? I mean, should nix-env just go ahead and
download whatever can be downloaded legally by accepting a particular
license when "allowUnfree" is set to true?
Or, should there be an extra option in nixpkgs config for every license
or user agreement of a software? Like in the case of
Oracle JDK, e.g., "config.license.oraclejdk.accept=true;"?

Concerning Oracle JDK, as far as I understand, "fetchurl" would need
some changes to download the Oracle JDK directly.
How to accept the user license in the download request is described in
[1], and I would be happy integrate an appropriate
function into "fetchurl", or to write a download program specifically
for Oracle JDK, if that is preferred.

As long as it is only a technical issue that, e.g., Oracle JDK cannot be
downloaded automatically, and not a legal one, I'm happy
to work on it.

[1]
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-manually-install-oracle-java-on-a-debian-or-ubuntu-vps