-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Kirk Wolf wrote: > This may be a well-worn topic here, and if so I apologize... > > What about GPL-licensed code using proprietary (closed) instructions and > hipervisor features (DIAG, etc)? > Aren't micro/millicode and zVM hipervisor vectors "the new OCO" with > respect to Linux and Solaris on z?
I am not a lawyer, but: It seems to me that the key question is the "derivative work" concept of copyright law that the GPL bases itself on. I note that these features are cleanly separated from Linux and it's drivers (E.g. other z/VM guests running OpenSolaris or CMS or MVS or z/OS could use them, they're in published API's, made by completely separate groups of people, etc etc). Ergo, I'd guess that they'd be pretty clearly pass the no derivative works test, and thus any court or GPL fanatic would admit there's no license issues. Similarly, if this was a problem, then any fully proprietary CPU instruction set and machine architecture would have a pretty hard time having linux drivers written for it. Linux pretty clearly wouldn't even exist, in that case. - -- Pat -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (Darwin) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iEYEARECAAYFAknTsOMACgkQNObCqA8uBswZMwCfR0hKc1m900ah51Rel1vU4JxY UvIAn3dF0Xsl8Ix+pLpT+oL46aUH+1jh =7rdT -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@vm.marist.edu with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390
