[gNewSense-users] Another linux-ubuntu-modules freedom question

[Eric Padman]

Hello all,

I've almost finished ubuntu/sound/alsa-driver/pci. I've just got one
problem in the pdplus directory. pdplus.c is licensed as GPL v2 or
later and is well commented as regards registers and hex values but
contains this interesting comment:

 * NOTES (ht):
 *     If you got this as part of the ALSA driver, some parts you
might want to have
 *     for improvement of this driver are missing.  These missing
parts are a) the
 *     file README.pdplus, b) programs that generate the following files
 *     automatically:
 *
 *           Package name      Output file               Input file
 *           ---------------------------------------------------------
 *           bit2uchar         card-pdplus-pga-a.c       pdplusa.rbt
 *           -"-               card-pdplus-pga-d.c       pdplusd.rbt
 *           assert.pl         card-pdplus-failure.h     card-pdplus.c
 *
 *     Do not hesitate to contact address@hidden to get these
programs, they are
 *     free software.  They will soon appear in the WWW (presumable at
www.theiling.de).

The files pdplus-pga-a.c and pdplus-pga-d.c (which I'm guessing have
the prefix 'code-' removed) contain long strings of hex with minimal C
structures around them. As far as I can tell from a little Googling,
.rbt files are text encoded bitstreams usually used with Lego
Mindstorms.

These input files and packages (apart from assert.pl) are currently
not available on the website given. Should I contact the author to
obtain these files and verify their freedom, or mark both of them as
non-free?

Also, I would like to apologise for my stupid question about to the
list about MP3 patents last week. I was tired and only skimming
through my mail, and I should have paid more attention before posting.
Sorry about that.

Thanks,
Eric (MentalNotes)