The only way this would be a violation is if they refused to release
the GPL code for their GCC port or Linux source to their paying
customer. Thats it. Make a request, they'll honor it. It's their
business model. Linking against FlexLM doesn't require them to publish
FlexLM code either, just the code in GCC that links to it.
My observation of this business practice is that when you sell GPL
software to uneducated users, you can get away with as much as your
customer will let you. There's nothing wrong with that. If someone
wants to play on 'easy-mode' using DevRocket, they pay more than
someone who plays 'Advanced Mode' with the CodeSourcery-lite. You
substitute money for time investment and vise versa.
It's unfair to accuse MV as GPL violators simply because they don't
fit the GPL model that you're familiar with.
For the record, I'm not affiliated with Montavista or a customer of
theirs. OpenEmbedded here. But I do respect their effort to make money
while adhering to the GPL model. Nothing in the GPL says that you must
take a vow of poverty to participate.
-n
On Aug 6, 2009, at 11:13 AM, Vladimir Pantelic wrote:
Griffis, Brad wrote:
Thank you for your reply. Good question. Yes, it's a gcc compiler
so it definitely would/should be possible to
remove the licensing. It uses FLEXnet licensing so it's probably
tougher than some simple time-bomb somewhere.
My hope was to avoid cat and mouse games with Montavista. For
example, there is a "demo version" of the compiler
(without the FLEXnet licensing) that all customers can get for
free. I wasn't sure if any improvements were in the
real compiler though. Other thoughts I had were potentially
dropping use of the Montavista toolchain altogether and
using CodeSourcery instead. Would that create other problems?
there is no cat and mouse game to be played, MV has to release
source under the GPL and I doubt they would like
to have the flexlm part there visible for all to see, so they better
release one without...
This is GPL violation, so simple!
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