I read that PA menu does not support transparent images (except for icons apparently) so the personal image cannot be GIF or PNG.
Has the issue been resolved yet?
If not, please check out http://pngdelphi.sourceforge.net/
A component for Delphi to use PNG images 
Hopefully the new PAM (and the MOD's) will be able to offer support for transparent images. Looks much better, doesn't it?
If for some reason PNG is not wanted, maybe an ICO will do just fine 
PS. I guess the NEW Portable Apps Menu will be 2.0, right? (Looking at all the massive changes that seem to be coming including a complete new format for the installers?)
Oh well, go go go!
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This will be a big step for all the themers out there. Go John!
PNGDelphi is a closed source component.
How can it be closed source if it's hosted at sourceforge?
formerly rayven01
exactly? It says full source on the site . . .
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
The license text in the help file for the latest version does indeed prohibit modifications to the source, even though it is included:
This component may be distributed freely over the internet only when containing the exact same files from the original packaging.
Modified files may not be distributed. If you want to contribute with PNG Delphi, send the enhancements to the author and if he implements your changes, you will be given the proper credit.
The component may be used in commercial projects but may NEVER be sold as source code without author agreement.
Commercial visual graphics libraries are not allowed to use this component WITHOUT AUTHOR PRIOR AGREEMENT.
Credit for the author is required somewhere in the product documentation/or about box/etc.
Source code may be changed if it's not redistributed.
formerly rayven01
You do better research then I
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
I would say: they host on SourceForge and the component itself is for delphi. That does not - in my humble opinion - require the component only to be used in closed source apps. The Goal isn't a modification or even redistribution of the component, just the use of it.
Indeed stupid to have a 'closed source' component on sourceforge, but the goal isn't publishing a delphi portable version. The goal is (hopefully) an Portable Apps Platform that has support for the PNG image support.
If not the Official PAM, maybe one of the MOD's will be able to implement it.
While it may be against SourceForge's regulations to have that kind of license, it should not prohibit the use of the component and hopefully people will be able to download and use this component in the future!
Embrace the fact that you can use the component!
but John cant use it. The menu is GPL, anything compiled into the menu (code, images, anything else) must also ALL be GPL. its not possible or legal to relicense somebody else's work.
The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705
It's a developers enviroment component.
Or is John also using an open source version of Delphi?
it is a library, meaning it contains code, John already had a discussion about this library quite a while ago. it cannot be used legally, because the data from the library will be comipled into the application. if the application is GPL, EVERYTHING that is compiled into it must also be GPL.
The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705
Then its up to a MOD to have PNG support.
Personally I think this is absurd to have a component that one could not use because of it not being GPL, as if you would need to include the source code of the component of the developement platform itself in the sourcecode of the PAM source distribution.
The license obviously if to protect the component itself being sold commercially or changed component speaded without having the changes put back into the official component developement tree.
This is not what Open Source is supposed to be. I thought there is a difference of the component and any compiled code it produces. It's silly that commercial apps may use this open source component to get support into their app but another open source project may not.
Then its up to a MOD to have PNG support
That wouldn't work, because if it's a MOD, it's using the PAM's GPL Licensed Code, which would have to be re-release under the GPL. So it's the same situation.
the mods are GPL too. its still illegal...i didnt write the license that the library uses, its not a truly open source library, with GPL stuff the source is freely available and freely distributable, but anything compiled with it must also be GPL, and any derivative works must remain GPL as well, this is to keep from "code stealing" to occur, or if somebody tries to relicense to a closed license, then sue the original author for revealing the source code.
what does your first paragraph mean, i dont follow it at all. and a library isnt a development environment, it is a library, which is a collection of already-coded modules/functions.
The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705
I think it IS legal. You don't need to include the source code of the component itself. The source of PAM would only contain the source code that IMPLEMENTS the components feature and the actual code is then compiled into the binary. And it's not illegal to use the component init call open source.
Please don't confuse the Source of PAM and the source of the component for Delphi. Delphi itself comes with components which are used and no-one expects that Delphi components may not be used because they are not GPL yet the calls to these components are in the PAM's source.
It's just an addon for the development app that is used. There is nowhere in GPL that prohibits the use of development IDE components to be used. It's just a requirement for anyone who needs to compile the PAM to have this component to be installed for Delphi -not PAM.
I assume you know how Delphi works. Delphi offers many 'components' for menu items and so on. These components are integrated into Delphi IDE and become in essence a part of Delphi's GUI to set up the placement and variables used. Like you drop a textfield component and in a box enter it's variables and properties. Then you compile and a binary is generated.
As I understood it well I was under the impression this was a Delphi component they offered and as such is part of the development environment.
As the page says: "PNG Delphi component".
When developers do open source projects that use a closed source development environment (like say Delphi) there's an implied license to link the GPLed code to components included with Delphi that make up its platform (the built-in VCL bits, for instance). That license does not, however, extend to 3rd party components without the express consent of all copyright-holders.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Well, it may not be completely "free" as the zealots use that word, but having the source code means that you can modify it for your own purposes. Or you can have some hope of maintaining it if the developer of this package disappears. That's a huge advantage over not having the source code at all.
MC
I think, someone should try to contact the author of the png-package. Perhaps he is not aware of the difficulties in his license. I think, when he posts the package at sourceforge, he intended to public it as opensource. The license could be just a lapse. The only way to know for sure, is to contact the author and ask him to specify the license. That would be a great help for every delphi-coder.
P.S.:
I just send an email to Gustavo (png-package-developer) and asked him to take a look on this thread:
===========
Dear Gustavo,
at the forum of portableapps.com, there is an argue about using your component PNG-Delphi in an GPL-Opensource Application (called "PortableApps Menu").
Somewhere between your source files on sourceforge.net, there seems to be a sentence, which contradicts the use of your component for the development of an GPL-Application.
I would appreciate, if you step by https://portableapps.com/node/11086 and get in touch with us.
Thank you very much,
Greetings from Heidelberg, Germany,
Atreiju.
===========
looks good, lets hope we get a response
The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705
Writing to the developer makes sense. Definitely.
----
Also, when you sign up for SourceForge, you are asked which OSS license you use, and given a list of acceptable ones. If the developer indicated one when he applied for a project, but is now using a different one (or his own) that's not quite right.
MC
I've actually already had contact with the developer of PNGDelphi and I have his permission for inclusion of the component with a compatible licensing scheme. I'll post more about this in the announcement of the PortableApps.com Theme Format and the next menu build later this week.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Great News!
The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705
I wasn't be lucky: no reply from developer, like you, John. :|
But I will send another e-mail to Gustavo Daud for use pngdelphi in asuite and wppl. I hope.