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> There is an unofficial unrar that is free and open-source software, but there is no free and open-source rar as creating one is prohibited by the RAR license.

> There is an unofficial unrar that is free and open-source software, but there is no free and open-source rar as creating one is prohibited by the RAR license. From the license (EULA), I assume this is the relevant part: > You may not use, copy, emulate, clone, rent, lease, sell, modify, decompile, disassemble, otherwise reverse engineer, or transfer the licensed software, or any subset of the licensed software, except as provided for in this agreement. Any such unauthorized use shall result in immediate and automatic termination of this license and may result in criminal and/or civil prosecution. > Neither RAR binary code, WinRAR binary code, UnRAR source or UnRAR binary code may be used or reverse engineered to re-create the RAR compression algorithm, which is proprietary, without written permission. > The software may be using components developed and/or copyrighted by third parties. Please read "Acknowledgments" help file topic for WinRAR or acknow.txt text file for other RAR versions for details. Is this actually enforceable? If yes, are there worse outcomes apart from revoking the license? And I mean, the open source unrar, which is supposedly fine, doesn't come with an EULA like this. So it's probably not binding for reverse engineering based on the open source unrar. edit: I mean if there is a separate patent, then it's a different issue.

CodesInChaos 5y ago
It looks like newer versions of unrar aren't open source. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrar
matheusmoreira 5y ago
Depends on where you live. It's not enforceable in my country according to a lawyer I consulted but it probably is enforceable in the USA. This "you agree not to exercise your rights" pattern is essentially standard legal boilerplate at this point and it boggles my mind that people can get away with it. It inevitably results in the corporation retaining all possible rights and privileges while the consumers own nothing, can do nothing and can have whatever little they have taken away from them if they don't behave.
- sidewndr46 5y ago
  What confuses me is how does WinRAR continue to exist as a profitable commercial entity? Are there actually enough companies out there paying licensing fees to them for using it? I can't imagine that being the case.
Nextgrid 5y ago
> it's probably not binding for reverse engineering based on the open source unrar. I think the "secret sauce" is the compression-specific code that allows it to reach the high compression ratio which is one of the selling points of the format. Reverse-engineering the decompression code will allow you to create valid RAR files but may not give you any clues as to how to reach the high compression ratio of the original compressor.

CodesInChaos 5y ago

It looks like newer versions of unrar aren't open source. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrar

matheusmoreira 5y ago

Depends on where you live. It's not enforceable in my country according to a lawyer I consulted but it probably is enforceable in the USA. This "you agree not to exercise your rights" pattern is essentially standard legal boilerplate at this point and it boggles my mind that people can get away with it. It inevitably results in the corporation retaining all possible rights and privileges while the consumers own nothing, can do nothing and can have whatever little they have taken away from them if they don't behave.

sidewndr46 5y ago
What confuses me is how does WinRAR continue to exist as a profitable commercial entity? Are there actually enough companies out there paying licensing fees to them for using it? I can't imagine that being the case.

Nextgrid 5y ago

> it's probably not binding for reverse engineering based on the open source unrar. I think the "secret sauce" is the compression-specific code that allows it to reach the high compression ratio which is one of the selling points of the format. Reverse-engineering the decompression code will allow you to create valid RAR files but may not give you any clues as to how to reach the high compression ratio of the original compressor.