Please move to multiverse

[jcfp]

Binary package hint: sabnzbdplus

Recommends (non-free) unrar, which is in multiverse.

[jcfp (jcfp)]

Note that unrar-free doesn't work with the program (nor can it be made to), so changing the dependency to unrar-free | unrar isn't an option. Making unrar a Suggests removes important functionality that would be missed by the vast majority of users, and makes the concept of sabnzbdplus as an automated downloader more or less useless since most files distributed on usenet are in rar format.

[Dave Walker (davewalker)]

Hi jcfp,

Thanks for reporting this bug. Whilst i agree a Universe package recommending a multiverse is sub-optimal, the actual application is free in itself, so i don't believe it would normally be suitable to be moved to multiverse. If you make unrar (non-free) otherwise unavailable ( One way is to move it, sudo mv /usr/bin/unrar /usr/bin/unrar.tmp). Then try and run the application, and provide further information on how sabnzdplus reacts to not having unrar binary available. If it's a reasonably sane response, another way of solving this bug would be to set unrar (non-free) as a 'suggest' rather than a recommend.

Suggestions welcome!

[Dave Walker (davewalker)]

Please do remember to move the unrar binary back after you've tested with:
sudo mv /usr/bin/unrar.tmp /usr/bin/unrar

Thanks.

[jcfp (jcfp)]

Dave, a missing unrar causes a non-fatal warning on startup, and shows this warning (at least in the program's default web interface that comes up for a first time user of the program), but doesn't prevent the program for being started. It does, however, cause important functionality to be missing, especially since it causes the "insert an nzb and sabnzbdplus does all the work" idea to fail. At the same time I agree with you that multiverse isn't the right place for a program that qualifies as free software, and whose authors intend it to be exactly that.

So in the end the choice is between having a package where it doesn't belong (but with users having fully useful functionality out-of-the-box), or users ending up installing a package that misses expected functionality (but with the package confirming to the ideals typical for Linux distros - with unrar as a suggest keeping the package in universe). Imho, both are more or less workarounds around the problem of unrar's being in multiverse that I can't fix anyway.

Is the preferred/common practice in Ubuntu for such cases is to keep packages in universe as long as it doesn't cause the program to outright fail to start? In that case, I'll proceed to make unrar a suggest and you could savely close this bug. PLease advise.

[jcfp (jcfp)]

Noticed hellanzb pulls the same trick... setting unrar as a suggest