[nycbug-talk] OpenBSD sdiff port to FreeBSD

[Jeff Quast]

On 5/17/07, Steven Kreuzer <skreuzer at f2o.org> wrote:
>
> Greetings-
>
> OpenBSD includes a version of sdiff written by our very own Ray
> Lai, and released to the public domain.
>
> In a quest to remove as much GPL code from FreeBSD as possible, I
> ported it over.


Hi all!

I was just reading a thread concerning this very topic on diff utilities
this weekend on a dragonfly bsd list (some obscure unreleated search
brought me there). I was especially concerned with Dillon's reply:

  http://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/mailarchive/submit/2004-02/msg00123.html

"   Compared to all the gnu junk we depend on, I don't know why people
    would be concerned over something as simple-stupid as 'diff'.  I see
    no advantage (or disadvantage) to changing our diff."

I disagree with Mr. Dillon. This sort of ideology does not seem BSD-like.
Its a very simple replacement. A hundred of these replacements can really
add up to something!

I also enjoy the availability of software in /usr/src for hacking without
restrictions. /usr/src lives on my desktop as a reference manual, and one
that I can build on, borrow from, or reuse as I see fit in my own
programs. Running into code that is also GPL licensed is a real bummer
when you're deep into a run... I stop thinking about hacking and start
thinking about legal shit.
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