Comment 17 for bug 223783

I guess I don't understand this comment:

"I can't distribute sox binaries with mp3 encoding support compiled in at least in Debian main."

I presume this refers to the non-free mp3 encoder. But just removing the configure switch '--disable-lame' does not cause the sox binary to include any non-free code. (True?) The non-free code only arrives in lame. I just don't see how this configure switch changes the legal disposition of sox. It doesn't really change sox per se.

Otherwise, how is Audacity able to be distributed in exactly this fashion. It won't encode mp3 right out of the box. But all you have to do is install the lame library and it is then fully enabled. You certainly don't have to recompile it.

Why can't sox be distributed like Audacity.