Will there be support for irtrans IR receivers?

Is there out of box support in mythtv ('real' mythtv, not just mythbuntu)? If there was a deb package community-supported in the repositories, mythbuntu could easily install it if needed. Do you know if they have a .deb package available?

IRTrans provides its own IR server with an interface that is compatible with lirc. Since mythtv provides out of the bix support for lirc, yes, the IRServer provided by IRTrans is also supported "out of the box".

IRTrans doesn't provide a .deb package, just source code and a precompiled binary (i386). I'm willing to make a deb out of it for amd64 and i386 platforms, however, I'm not sure under which license the code is distributed (the code itself doesn't mention any license). We'll have to ask IRTrans if we can include it in Ubuntu. The deb would conflict with lirc, since it replaces lirc. I assume lirc is installed by default in mythbuntu? That would prevent irtrans modules from being supported out of the box.

Something "conflicting" with lirc will be a be a bit troublesome, depending on how many things need to be replaced. A license does need to be distributed within the deb. If you can determine the license it falls under, I can help get it packaged.

Well, the IRTrans server conflicting with lirc in the sense that your cannot run them in parallel.
However IRTrans recommends to have the lirc tools installed, since they can be used to test the IRTrans server.
The only thing one has to do is preventing the lirc daemon to start (e.g. remove it from the init scripts).

In the meantime I've contacted IRTrans about the license:

-------------------------
Dear IRTrans,

I'm a very satisfied user of the excellent IRTrans USB transceiver and I'm very happy to see that IRTrans recognizes the need for Linux driver support. As an Ubuntu Linux fanatic, I'd love to see your driver included in the Ubuntu Linux distribution, so users without any technical skills can simply install it without the usual compilation hassle. To be more specific: I'd like to include it in the upcoming Mythbuntu flavour, which focuses on Home Theater systems utilizing the mythtv software. Since the source code offered on your website does not explicitly mention a license to which (re)distribution of the code might be subject to, I'm wondering if Ubuntu would have your permission to distribute your driver as a precompiled Ubuntu package.

With kind regards,
Ruud Bos
-------------------------

This is the response I got:

-------------------------
Hi Ruud,

no problem, the sourcecode is freely available and might be integrated in any distribution you like.

Marcus

IRTrans - the versatile PC/Network IR Solution
IRTrans - die universelle PC/Netzwerk IR Lösung
Web: www.irtrans.com
Mail: <email address hidden>
Phone: +49 89 2018 7095
Fax: +49 89 2018 7096

IRTrans GmbH
Einsteinstrasse 14
85716 Unterschleissheim
Germany

Geschäftsführer Marcus Müller
HRB 162837 München
UST-ID DE 814 705 505

I sent the follow e-mail to IRTrans explaining the license issue:

----------------------------
Hi Marcus,

Thank you very much for the quick response!
I'm very happy to see that the driver can be included in Ubuntu.
However, the Ubuntu policy demands that a license is distributed with the packaged driver.
Can you please tell me under what license terms the code is distributed?

Thank you in advance,
Ruud
----------------------------

I received the following reply:

----------------------------
Well, then let’s use GPL.

Marcus
----------------------------

So I guess the license issue seems to be resolved now?

Ruud,
Could you ask Marcus to post this information minimally on his website
(or preferably distribute a copy of the GPL within the source)? It's no
trouble to package, but it won't pass the archive admins unless they
have a verifiable way to make sure its GPL.

Mario

Ruud Bos wrote:
> Question #9131 on Mythbuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/mythbuntu/+question/9131
>
> Ruud Bos gave more information on the question:
> I sent the follow e-mail to IRTrans explaining the license issue:
>
> ----------------------------
> Hi Marcus,
>
> Thank you very much for the quick response!
> I'm very happy to see that the driver can be included in Ubuntu.
> However, the Ubuntu policy demands that a license is distributed with the packaged driver.
> Can you please tell me under what license terms the code is distributed?
>
> Thank you in advance,
> Ruud
> ----------------------------
>
> I received the following reply:
>
> ----------------------------
> Well, then let’s use GPL.
>
> Marcus
> ----------------------------
>
> So I guess the license issue seems to be resolved now?
>

Hi Ruud,

Did Marcus post this info to his site or include a copy of the GPL in his source code yet?

I'd love for this to be turned into a deb!
It will drive the adoption rate of IRTrans as an alternative to LIRC & yet still be complimentary in some ways.

Cheers,
jed

Hi Jed,

Last week I asked Marcus to make his statement somehow verifyable for the archive admins, but didn't receive any response yet.
It might be because of the holiday season ...
Anyway, I'll resend my request in a few days.

K, now worries Ruud,
It's a bit strange but as you say, it might be because of the holiday season.

Sincerely,
-jed.

Hi everyone,

Marcus from IRTrans has been cooperative in the process of making the IRTrans source code GPL compilant. There's only one catch: they ship a precompiled object file with device firmware that is not open. This file is linked into the final executable. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that makes it impossible to distribute the code as GPL. As I'm not really into this, are there any alternatives available that would suit the needs for both Ubuntu and IRTrans? Would LGPL be an option for instance?

With kind regards,
Ruud

Not sure if adheres to ubuntu's charter, but why not a BSD license?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSD_license#Proprietary_software_licenses_compatibility

cheers,
jed

FYI:

Marcus has released a new version of the IRTrans server that is distributed under the terms of the revised BSD license.
I will prepare packages for amd64 and i386. I really hope this can be included in Mythbuntu / Ubuntu.

With kind regards,
Ruud

That's awesome news, thanks for your efforts Ruud!
Hmm wonder where I can go to voice my interest in this being included in the repos, any idea?

Cheers,
Jed

What is the status on the package? I'm hoping it can be included in Hardy+1

It may not have been accepted by the official repo admins.
There would still be a way to manually install it, or perhaps it is listed in a 3rd party rep?

Ruud/Mario, you guys know the latest on this?

-jed.

jalyst wrote:
> Question #9131 on Mythbuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/mythbuntu/+question/9131
>
> jalyst requested for more information:
> It may not have been accepted by the official repo admins.
> There would still be a way to manually install it, or perhaps it is listed in a 3rd party rep?
>
> Ruud/Mario, you guys know the latest on this?
>
> -jed.
>
Jed,

I tried to get it packaged at one point, but ended up not having much of luck as
it started to give me some troubles and there were more pressing items. Sorry

--
Mario Limonciello
<email address hidden>

No worries,
What's the process one must go through to get something like this packaged?

Cheers,
Jed

Anyone? See below...

Cheers,
Jed

jalyst said on 2008-04-27:

No worries,
What's the process one must go through to get something like this packaged?

Cheers,
Jed

Any progress on this?

i think it's dead :-)

Sorry about the big radio silence guys, but I have been extremely busy lately.
Still, if someone has the time and expertise to generate Ubuntu packages, I would be happy to test them.

Mario, what packaging problems did you encounter?

If anyone knows where I get started in finding out how to do this I might have a crack, 'time permitting'

-jed.

wonder how this is gong nowadays, anyone know?

Cheers

To me it seems nothing happened in the mean time.

I'm a complete n00b on ubuntu/debian packaging myself. I tried to produce something about a year ago, but failed to build a decent package. If anyone with packaging experience can give it a try, I'd be more than happy to test it.

Would be nice to include this into Karmic+1

Cheers,
Ruud

I'm not yet decided whether i need one of their transceivers, & their
software.
If I do then I will certainly try....

Ruud Bos wrote:
> Question #9131 on Mythbuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/mythbuntu/+question/9131
>
> Status: Answered => Open
>
> Ruud Bos is still having a problem:
> To me it seems nothing happened in the mean time.
>
> I'm a complete n00b on ubuntu/debian packaging myself. I tried to
> produce something about a year ago, but failed to build a decent
> package. If anyone with packaging experience can give it a try, I'd be
> more than happy to test it.
>
> Would be nice to include this into Karmic+1
>
> Cheers,
> Ruud
>
>

I have one of their transceivers that came with my OrigenAE e15 casing.
It must be said that their irserver works very well. It's only a pity that they decided to make it a drop-in replacement for lirc instead of contributing to the lirc project itself.

Anyway, as said before, if anyone has something packaged, I'd be happy to test it on my hardware.

Ruud

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