On Sun, 5 Jun 2005, Matan Ziv-Av wrote:
I.o.w., if the modules come on disk and are loaded at run time by a script
it's ok. You know what ? That's exactly what they are doing. Unbelievable.
No. If they are distributed together (as in the case of an embedded device),
it is surely not "mere aggregation".
Well, what the f** is it then ? Did you know that the mips architecture
has separate flash spaces for each item ? The kernel is flashed in a
different chip than the compressed root fs for example. How do you
measure the distance between them to define 'non-aggregated' ? mm ?
inches ? microns if its a stacked flash ?
Alan Cox is not OK with this. Harald Welte is not OK with this. Erik Andersen
is not OK with this. Just to name a few.
Ok.
See what Linus shouts, loud and clear:
http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0312.0/1014.html
This makes it clearer.
Andersen is OK with devices that include Busybox and comply with the GPL. He
is very unhappy with devices that include Busybox and violate the GPL:
http://busybox.net/shame.html
Reading it up ...
Yes, you can, if and only if it's linux or open source based and the
license permits you to do that. You are allowed to charge money for it. You
can copy it and sell the copies. This is explicitly specified in the GPL.
The idea is
Did you actually read the license? It does not say what you think it says.
I thought that the part about copying is clear. The only people who
decide how much it costs to compile, copy, print and mail an item are
the distributors. How else could you explain the $100 price tag of a
Suse or Red Hat box. But you can always go with cheapbytes.
Try following this, it is not very hard.
1. The ECI router runs Linux.
2. ECI got a copy of Linux from Montavista.
3. Montavista gave ECI both binary and source, so they comply with the
license.
4. ECI gave Matan a binary copy of Linux.
5. ECI did not give matan the corresponding source, and did not offer to give
such source.
6. Therefore, they did not comply with the license.
7. Therefore, they copied Linux without having a legal right to do so.
Hmm. Ok, I see the point. Maybe the license 'got lost' somewhere on the
way. It would be interesting to know if there is something on the
b-focus cdrom. I will look tomorrow if I have time.
Funny, coming from someone who speaks about the GPL, but does not know
what it says.
Ok, I overreacted. Sorry.
Peter
=================================================================
To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command
echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
