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Diffstat (limited to 'debian/README.contrib-only')
-rw-r--r-- | debian/README.contrib-only | 28 |
1 files changed, 28 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/debian/README.contrib-only b/debian/README.contrib-only new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b1fa80 --- /dev/null +++ b/debian/README.contrib-only @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +The xtrs package is in the "contrib" distribution of Debian because it requires +a ROM image from one of the original TRS-80 Model I, III, 4, or 4P computers to +operate. Because of licensing restrictions on the ROM images, they may not be +distributed with the Debian package. + +There is a freely-licensed boot ROM for Model 4P emulation provided with xtrs; +however, this boot image can only be used to boot an operating system designed +for the Model 4 (it is not sophisticated enough to load the BASIC interpreter +ROM for Model III compatiblity mode, provided on Model 4P TRSDOS disks as a file +called MODELA/III). There are no known free operating systems for the TRS-80 +Model 4P, and there may never be. Since most users will likely be using this +emulator to run proprietary legacy applications for the TRS-80 computers, I do +not regard this exception as sufficient to recategorize xtrs for inclusion in +main. + +If someone ports a free OS to the TRS-80, however, that could change. This +isn't an implausible prospect; see the Contiki Project at + http://www.sics.se/contiki/ +for an example of a freely-licensed 8-bit OS that has been ported to platforms +contemporary with the TRS-80. + +See /usr/doc/xtrs/README.Debian for more information on using xtrs in Debian. + +-- Branden Robinson + +$Id: README.contrib-only 110 2008-02-07 04:09:22Z branden $ + +vim:set ai et ts=4 sw=4 tw=80: |