Amazon violates (L)GPL

[Kieran Kunhya]

Amazon distribute a binary of FFmpeg with some kind of FPGA acceleration that is nonfree. No source code provided.

​https://github.com/awslabs/aws-fpga-app-notes/tree/master/reInvent17_Developer_Workshop/ffmpeg

[llogan]

They (AWSOpen) have been notified about this on Twitter.

​https://twitter.com/daemon404/status/996760928036237313

[Kieran Kunhya]

​https://github.com/awslabs/aws-fpga-app-notes/issues/11

[Carl Eugen Hoyos]

$ md5sum ffmpeg
09725a633a31da86b9cec69676a4f85c  ffmpeg

[Hen]

Thank you ffmpeg community for your patience.

We've worked with ​@ThomasXilinx on ​GitHub to update this conference tutorial with the build instructions and patch file. The build downloads the official ffmpeg source code from git.ffmpeg.org, and we have noted this in the LICENSE_README file so users know where they can get the source code from. If you would like us to also provide a copy of the source ourselves, please let me know and we can put a copy up on S3 and link to that.

[Carl Eugen Hoyos]

The ffmpeg binaries in the two repositories are different, the provided patch does not allow to build the binary you distribute.

[Hen]

Thanks @cehoyos.

We went back to the contributor, fixed some build-script errors, and had multiple people checking that the build scripts successfully reproduces the uploaded binary. We also found that there were two copies of the binary in the repository and removed one:

​https://github.com/awslabs/aws-fpga-app-notes/pull/13

[Carl Eugen Hoyos]

The patchfile looks unchanged, so I don't understand how this can be fixed now.

[Carl Eugen Hoyos]

Ping?
Are you planning to fix this or will you stop distributing binaries based on FFmpeg?

[Hen]

Apologies for the delay; I've asked the contributing company (Xilinx) to respond.

[twowings]

@cehoyos, you are correct that the patchfile we distributed did not allow to build the same binary. This is because as we uploaded the correct patchfile, we mistakenly uploaded an incorrect binary. This was fixed with ​https://github.com/awslabs/aws-fpga-app-notes/pull/13, not by uploading a new patchfile, but uploading the correct binary. The current patchfile and build scripts posted on Github will allow you to build the correct binary. This is why we believe the Github content to be now resolving the issue even if the patchfile didn’t change.

[Carl Eugen Hoyos]

But where can I find the source to build the original binary?

[Kieran Kunhya]

The ffmpeg binary that is shipped still contains "--enable-nonfree"

[twowings]

@kierank - We have recompiled the binary without “—enable-nonfree” and posted the update: ​https://github.com/awslabs/aws-fpga-app-notes/pull/15

@cehoyos – Unfortunately we cannot find the exact source for the original binary, so we propose submitting a PR to Amazon to delete the original binary from GitHub history – will this address your concern?

[Carl Eugen Hoyos]

Please provide the patch that implements the Xilinx Advanced Video Codec (H.264) Encoder.

[twowings]

Hi @cehoyos – I’m afraid we don’t understand your request. The latest binary (posted here: ​https://github.com/awslabs/aws-fpga-app-notes/blob/master/reInvent17_Developer_Workshop/ffmpeg/ffmpeg) only contains the H.265 encoder. Please review and confirm this is ok. If desired, we can remove the old binary from GitHub history.

[Carl Eugen Hoyos]

Replying to twowings:

Hi @cehoyos – I’m afraid we don’t understand your request. The latest binary (posted here: ​https://github.com/awslabs/aws-fpga-app-notes/blob/master/reInvent17_Developer_Workshop/ffmpeg/ffmpeg) only contains the H.265 encoder. Please review and confirm this is ok. If desired, we can remove the old binary from GitHub history.

I believe you would either have to remove all binaries based on FFmpeg source code from github (and any other places where you distribute binaries based on FFmpeg) forever or provide the patch that implements the Xilinx Advanced Video Codec (H.264) Encoder but I am not a lawyer and we have no means to go after copyright violators so if you do neither, we just leave this ticket open.

[twowings]

Hi @cehoyos, we will provide the patch that implements the Xilinx Advanced Video Codec (H.264) Encoder plug-in. We hope this will address all your remaining concerns.

[Hendrik]

Replying to cehoyos:

Please provide the patch that implements the Xilinx Advanced Video Codec (H.264) Encoder.

The patch for that encoder is already available in the repository linked above - ​https://github.com/awslabs/aws-fpga-app-notes/blob/master/reInvent17_Developer_Workshop/ffmpeg/build/0001-Xilinx-NGcodec-hevc-ffmpeg-plugin.patch

[Carl Eugen Hoyos]

Replying to heleppkes:

Replying to cehoyos:

Please provide the patch that implements the Xilinx Advanced Video Codec (H.264) Encoder.

The patch for that encoder is already available in the repository linked above - ​https://github.com/awslabs/aws-fpga-app-notes/blob/master/reInvent17_Developer_Workshop/ffmpeg/build/0001-Xilinx-NGcodec-hevc-ffmpeg-plugin.patch

Why do you think so?

[dak_xilinx]

Hi @cehoyos – we have posted a patch containing the Xilinx Advanced Video Codec (H.264) Encoder per your request:

​https://github.com/awslabs/aws-fpga-app-notes/pull/17

Please confirm this meets your expectations - thanks!

[Carl Eugen Hoyos]

Thank you, I consider the issue fixed, I will close this ticket next week if there are no further comments.