sniffnet
sniffnet copied to clipboard
GyulyVGC
Include WPCAP on installation?
Hey guys, wouldn't it be cool to embed wpcap on installation so it can be a little bit more 'mainstream'?
Testing the software now, thanks <3.
Hi, thank you for your feedback.
I'm absolutely considering to do it for the next release!
wpcap is from the obsolete and unmaintained WinPcap driver.
The modern and maintained replacement is npcap but that has distribution restrictions with exceptions for applications such as Wireshark.
I'm actually using npcap for my GH workflows and I recommend it also in the README. However, I had some issues trying to embed it in the installer
From npcap.org, under the "Npcap OEM for Commercial Use and Redistribution" header (my emphasis):
The Npcap free license only allows five installs (with a few exceptions) and does not allow for any redistribution.
Users are free to download it themselves (within the 5 user limit).
This issue has been addressed in my incoming PR.
Did you stick to Npcap 0.93 in the end?
Did you stick to Npcap 0.93 in the end?
Well, to give you more context, we had two options for installing Npcap. The first option was to ask the user to manually install the Free edition, while the second option was to install it ourselves via the installer. The latter required the use of the Silent Install option ( /S ), which is exclusive to the OEM edition. However, the older Free edition, v0.93, also included a Silent Installer. Therefore, I used it only to run my tests since you are the only one authorized to access the OEM installer.
But since I cannot distribute the OEM to the users, I guess that in the end we will just warn the user that Npcap is required; so this issue will most likely remain open, if I understood it correctly.
But since I cannot distribute the OEM to the users, I guess that in the end we will just warn the user that Npcap is required; so this issue will most likely remain open, if I understood it correctly.
Sorry, for my confusion. I thought you have the license to ship that alongside Sniffnet and that's why they provided you with an OEM edition. My understanding of the terminology came from the fact that:
The OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) version of software refers to a version of the software that is specifically designed and licensed for distribution by the manufacturer to be pre-installed or bundled with hardware products. OEM software is typically intended for computer manufacturers, system builders, and distributors who include the software as part of their hardware offerings.
If that's not the case, I'll modify the Windows installer to download and open the installer of the Free edition, so they can install it manually. Basically, the first option mentioned before... I'll keep using the OEM for CI though.
Sorry for not being clearer before. I can ask for a confirmation to the Npcap team.
Sorry for the confusion and thanks again.
Sorry for not being clearer before. I can ask for a confirmation to the Npcap team.
Sorry for the confusion and thanks again.
No worries... Please keep me posted on your inquiry.
Hi folks. Thanks for your interest in Npcap! Just to clarify a few things:
- Npcap is a commercial project developed by full-time paid programmers. We fund this work by selling two types of license: the Npcap OEM redistribution license (for redistributing Npcap within other software or hardware products) and the internal-use license (for using Npcap within an organization beyond the limits of the free version). These license sales are critical to pay our expenses so Npcap remains viable and does not meet Winpcap's fate.
- That being said, we also do support the open source and free software communities. That is why we provided free copies of Npcap OEM to @GyulyVGC in January for internal CI/CD usage under the condition that the Sniffnet team "make sure you don't make the link or the installer itself public because that's the version we sell." Sniffnet did not purchase a redistribution license and should not be redistributing any version of Npcap. The ancient Version 0.93 of Npcap may have a silent installer, but it's license doesn't allow redistribution.
- The good news is that you can still use Npcap in Sniffnet. You can compile Sniffnet with the Npcap SDK and redistribute that along with instructions for the user to download and install Npcap themselves. If they need fewer than 5 copies and don't need automated Npcap deployment, they can download and install Npcap for free in just a few clicks. If they need more copies and/or automatic deployment and/or commercial support, they can buy Npcap OEM.
- Please don't "modify the Windows installer to download and open the installer of the [Npcap] Free edition". That sort of constructive redistribution is not allowed by Npcap's license and causes us headaches since we have to change the Npcap download URL's to prevent it. If your application or installer doesn't detect Npcap available, just pop up a note asking the user to download and install it themselves from https://npcap.com.
I hope this helps and that Npcap continues to prove useful for your project! While we wish we could allow every person and organization to use and redistribute unlimited copies of Npcap, we would go out of business and it would end up abandoned like WinPcap was. So we're doing the best we can to find a good balance.
It's perfectly understandable.
I will just keep using it for CI/CD then.
Thank you very much @fyodor and have a good day.
The best thing to do at this point is just displaying a pop-up to let users download the standard version themselves.
Closing this issue as not planned.
Thanks for the clarification @fyodor, we will act accordingly. And don't worry, we haven't published the new version of the installer yet, so no harm was done.
P.S. @GyulyVGC It's fine, I'm automatically subscribed to the topics I engage.
Hi @fyodor This is not really related to this issue, but I wanted to make sure it's ok to use nmap-services to build (via a custom script) a list of ports-to-services for Sniffnet (licensed under Apache2.0 OR MIT).