Where to place a big source file?

PhotonX · 2014-07-09 20:05:06

Hello everybody,

I am currently trying to package the car simulation Racer (see: http://racer.nl) for the AUR. I use the Windows version via Wine since the Linux version is quite outdated and the Windows version runs with a very good performance and no functionality loss. The current state of the package is that it is basically ready, however, there is one thing to clarify. The problem is that the download on the official web page points to a file hoster, so a direct download using wget is impossible. I could not find any download source where the download URL is directly accessible. Additionally, I edited the archive with the game files by removing some unnecessary files like debugging symbols, which significantly reduced the file size, so I'd prefer to use the modified archive.

Therefore the problem arises where to upload the archive. Currently, I put it into the Public folder of my Dropbox account. I wonder, however, whether there is a better alternative. I don't know whether it is legally possible to put the archive, say, into a Github repository, since the game is not free software (however, including into Linux distributions is explicitly allowed). I asked the developer some days ago via an email, but got no reply so far. Maybe Arch offers a possibility to put the archive onto some of its repository servers? For me, keeping the archive in the dropbox is not a problem, however I don't know whether it is a good solution.

For anyone interested in testing, here are the PKGBUILDs:

Version for newer hardware: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/150 … src.tar.gz
Version for older hardware: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/150 … src.tar.gz

In the original game only one car and one track are included, however there is a big number of downloadable car models and tracks on the net. Unfortunately, most of them seem to be conversions from commercial games, so their distribution is not legal. Currently I'm searching for some legally unproblematic models to prepare an additional car package, so stay tuned.

Greetings,
PhotonX

karol · 2014-07-09 20:40:51

There already is a game by the name 'racer' https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/racer/ so you will have to pick a different one.

You can skip the source and tell users where they can download it themselves e.g. put a link to http://racer.nl/dl_beta_win.htm or whatever the download is.

Edit:
Racer v0.9.0 RC8 (1-11-2013) should be 150Mb, I get
File size: 72.08 MB
Uploaded: 2013-11-01 12:03:41

Racer v0.9.0 RC7 / Oculus Rift edition (24-5-2013) should be 150Mb, I get
File size: 146.55 MB
Uploaded: 2013-05-24 07:19:54

Either mediafire ate half of the latest package or ...?
WTF is 150Mb - megabits? In this (unlikely) case, the file should be just several MB big.

Last edited by karol (2014-07-09 20:45:01)

ewaller · 2014-07-09 20:48:49

What does the license specifically say about redistribution? What about redistribution of modified source?

PhotonX · 2014-07-09 21:19:28

karol, therefore I named the packages racer-cg and racer-nocg rather than racer and racer-nocg. I hope, that there will be no confusion if people read the descriptions. I'm a big fan of AUR helpers like yaourt, so I'd really like to have the package do everything automatically (i.e. not requiring a manual download of the source archive).

By the way, I intentionally use a slightly outdated version 0.8.44 because it gave be the best results in terms of performance and I don't see any advantage in using the newer 0.90RCx versions.

ewaller, here is the complete license: http://www.racer.nl/legal.htm It says, modifying the source is not allowed, but I didn't modify the code, only deleted some unnecessary files from the archive. On redistribution in general it says:

Publishing of material downloadable here may however be done on a non-commericial basis. In this case, I would appreciate it if you send me a note regarding where you make available the material.

So, it's difficult...

Last edited by PhotonX (2014-07-09 21:19:55)

ewaller · 2014-07-09 22:11:33

Were I you, I would mirror the project in its entirety on something like GitHub, and would drop the author a note as they requested.
I would then create a PKGBUILD that downloads the source, deletes the parts you don't want, and creates a package from the truncated menagerie.

You could even push it a bit and apply patches to the source after download, but that probably violates the spirit if not the actual letter of the license.

PhotonX · 2014-07-10 14:32:04

That would be a possibility. Actually, is there a problem in continuing to use Dropbox for the files? Then at least the files would be not publicly accessible (if one doesn't know the URL) as opposed to github or similar platforms. I will for sure write another mail to the developer after uploading the PKGBUILDs into the AUR, but I have no big hopes to get a reply.

ewaller · 2014-07-10 15:38:21

PhotonX wrote:

Actually, is there a problem in continuing to use Dropbox for the files?

Not for a small project. Dropbox might carp if they start getting thousands of hits per hour. You had asked about alternatives.

Trilby · 2014-07-10 16:10:48

I'd also wonder whether github would be suitable for two reasons. First, (AFAIK) it is not meant to store binary data - this is a bit flexible with a lot of grey area as relevant images/artwork are stored there. Second, and more importantly, they offer free hosting for open source projects. While I don't know how/if this is enforced, it would seem to go against their intent to use it to host a non-open binary project (at least using the free service).

PhotonX · 2014-07-10 22:11:48

So it seems like both Github and Dropbox are rather unsuited for this case. I'm somewhat out of ideas...

Lone_Wolf · 2014-07-12 10:28:54

PhotonX,

i suggest you check out box.com .
There TOS for personal use is here here .

I have a personal account there with 10 GB space, and afaict there are just a few things to keep in mind :

- the personal account has a filesize limit of 250 Mb, larger things will have to be cut in pieces
- you have max download of 10 Gb data per month, if that's reached nothing can be downloaded anymore from that account until a new month starts.

with 150 Mb archives, the max filesize is no problem, but the number of download woulds be limited to approx 66 per month.

PhotonX · 2014-09-26 20:02:41

Hi, thanks everybody for your input, I finally finished the Racer packages, see here if you are interested: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1460636 Eventually I found a site which hosts all Racer betas and has access to the direct download.

PhotonX · 2023-11-26 19:11:31

Sorry for digging this up again after almost ten years. I just got an out of date notification for the Racer packages. It turned out that the hoster took down the source files. I still have saved them on my hard drive but again the question arises where to put them. Maybe there are new possibilities now, after so many years?

Arch Linux

#1 2014-07-09 20:05:06

Where to place a big source file?

#2 2014-07-09 20:40:51

Re: Where to place a big source file?

#3 2014-07-09 20:48:49

Re: Where to place a big source file?

#4 2014-07-09 21:19:28

Re: Where to place a big source file?

#5 2014-07-09 22:11:33

Re: Where to place a big source file?

#6 2014-07-10 14:32:04

Re: Where to place a big source file?

#7 2014-07-10 15:38:21

Re: Where to place a big source file?

#8 2014-07-10 16:10:48

Re: Where to place a big source file?

#9 2014-07-10 22:11:48

Re: Where to place a big source file?

#10 2014-07-12 10:28:54

Re: Where to place a big source file?

#11 2014-09-26 20:02:41

Re: Where to place a big source file?

#12 2023-11-26 19:11:31

Re: Where to place a big source file?

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