Allow building without --enable-nonfree for a redistributable image#57
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Allow building without --enable-nonfree for a redistributable image#57mormegil6 wants to merge 1 commit into
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Pull request overview
Adds a build-time switch to control whether FFmpeg is configured with --enable-nonfree, enabling creation of a redistributable image variant without changing the default build output.
Changes:
- Introduces
ARG ENABLE_NONFREEto make--enable-nonfreeconditional at build time. - Documents the licensing rationale and how to build with
ENABLE_NONFREE=0.
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| # --enable-nonfree gates GPL-incompatible libraries (e.g. libfdk_aac); this | ||
| # build links none of them, so the flag is a no-op that only marks the binary | ||
| # non-redistributable. Default on (behaviour unchanged); build with | ||
| # --build-arg ENABLE_NONFREE=0 for a redistributable image. | ||
| ARG ENABLE_NONFREE=1 |
The flag gates GPL-incompatible external libraries, but this build links none: the only codec libraries in the configure line are libx264 (GPL), libopus (BSD) and libvpx (BSD). Its sole effect is marking the resulting ffmpeg non-redistributable, which blocks publishing a pre-built Earshot image to a public registry. ARG ENABLE_NONFREE=1 keeps the default build byte-for-byte identical; --build-arg ENABLE_NONFREE=0 drops the flag for a redistributable build. Verified with ENABLE_NONFREE=0: 16-channel Opus (hexadecagonal, no downmix) and VP9 output unchanged.
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Fair point on the wording: with the default at 1, nonfree stays enabled and it is the redistributable build that is the opt-in. Retitled accordingly. The default is deliberately unchanged so the stock build stays byte-for-byte identical; flipping the default to 0 would change the licence stamp of every existing build and that call belongs to the maintainers, not this PR. |
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Use case. Publishing a pre-built Earshot image alongside a containerised HOA streaming stack.
--enable-nonfreemarks the resulting ffmpeg as non-redistributable, which blocks shipping the image through a public registry.The finding. This build links no nonfree library. From
ffmpeg -buildconfin the current image:The only external codec libraries are libx264 (GPL), libopus (BSD) and libvpx (BSD). There is no libfdk_aac and no openssl.
--enable-nonfreeonly relaxes a licence gate that nothing in the build uses, so removing it changes nothing except the licence stamp.The change.
ARG ENABLE_NONFREE=1. The default build is unchanged, flag included.docker build --build-arg ENABLE_NONFREE=0drops it and produces a plain GPLv3 binary (via libx264) that can be redistributed.Verification. Built with
ENABLE_NONFREE=0; the configure line loses only--enable-nonfree, and the full end-to-end pipeline (16-channel RTMP contribution in, live DASH out) passed identically:Stream probe of an encode made with the no-nonfree binary (the image ships no ffprobe, so this is ffmpeg reading back its own output): 16 discrete channels, hexadecagonal layout, no downmix, VP9 video: