[mythtv-users] appletv

[Gary Buhrmaster]

On Fri, Jun 10, 2022 at 5:18 PM Simon <linux at thehobsons.co.uk> wrote:

> Apple TV (AKAIK) runs iOS,

Actually tvOS, but it is a closer relative to iOS than to macOS,
but there are differences (some, but not all, can be abstracted
away (the obvious difference is touch screen entry vs remote
control)).

> and there’s a real biggie for FOSS, you *might* not be able to do it legally anyway !
>
> I recall reading that this was the reason for something (I can’t remember what now, it was a while ago) not being available for iOS.
> I don’t recall how, if at all, this got resolved. And clearly it will vary between different FOSS licences.

It is complicated.  And in summary GPL and the Apple
app store(*)(**) do not mix well.  While the FSF's opinion
is not definitive (you should always consult your own
legal team), FSF has stated that the Apple app store
violates your rights under the GPL.

So, as I recall, for GPL, the issue is that if *any* developer
which holds any GPL copyright claim on the code (and
for most larger projects there are many developers
who have contributed under the GPL) claims that the
app is not respecting the GPL (because of the signing
and prevention of modification restrictions) and the
developers are not willing to dual license the code,
Apple will remove the app from the store and devices
because Apple respects IP requirements.

There is also the issue of codec support.  Apple will
not (knowingly) distribute apps which contain codecs
to which a license to use is not provided.  And while tvOS
itself has support for some codecs, it does not support
all that one may encounter, and the IP owners of codecs
have had apps removed from the store that violate the
license requirements (the workaround for that is pay
the license fees, but that, of course, means a company
with bookkeeping and IP lawyers available, and the
app is not free unless the company can afford one of
those unlimited use licenses (typically many millions)).

There is nothing to prevent someone from writing an
entirely new app that implemented frontend like capability
(perhaps using the services api) which is not using any
existing (MythTV) GPL code, but that is likely a larger project,
although both leanfront and the qml mythfrontend (and
the now dormant torc) apps may provide inspiration as
to what such an app might look like (although as they
themselves are GPL you would need to talk to those
authors about actually using any of that code with
relicensing).

>  I recall reading that this was the reason for something
> (I can’t remember what now, it was a while ago) not
> being available for iOS.  I don’t recall how, if at all, this
> got resolved. And clearly it will vary between different
> FOSS licences

There are a number, but perhaps the most well known
to this community would be VLC.  And it was resolved
by getting the appropriate copyright holders to dual
license their code (GPLv2 (or later) or MPLv2).





(*) And Apple's walled garden means that you need
to use the app store for deployment (at least unless
some of the proposed regulations that require the
equivalent of support for sideloading are passed).

(**) Apple also allows businesses to have private
distributions, but while the Apple enterprise license
cost is nominal, the requirement to have at least 100
employees (which Apple will (repeatedly) audit),
and the requirement to specific the device IDs for
your employees for deployment (i.e. you can only
deploy to your org), and (depending on your state)
business license fees from minimal to close to
$1000/yr make that option another non-starter for
most.