<[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-2"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
MIME-Version: 1.0
>>As far as I know there are closed binaries drivers
>>produced by hardware vendors for Linux world. To be
>>able to run such drivers on Linux there is a piece of
>>code licensed under LGPL allowing such thing. That is
>>the purpose of LGPL. Some hardware vendors still do
>>not want to write open source drivers because they'd
>>uncover their architecture to the competitors.
>
> You can ship closed drivers for Linux but not as part
> of your product=3B i.e.=2C you can ship you own driver and
> open only the "glue" which connects to the Linux kernel.
Exactly. This "glupe" piece of software is licensed under
LGPL. That is the main purpose of LGPL.
>
> But if you make a Linux distribution=2C you cannot ship such
> drivers but users can download and deploy them. Also=2C
> when you ship a device which runs Linux you are required
> to open your kernel but not necessarily all the applications
> which are part of your offering.
It is also true but=2C for example Sony PlayStation 3 delivers
CellBE microprocessor as a hardware while 'locking' their
Linux based OS by incorporating some encrypting algorithm into
firmware. Under GPLv2=2C it is allowed to do but not under GPLv3.
It means that you *can* 'extract' open source software from=20
their console=2C you *can* change it=2C but you *cannot* but back
after it. And it is all legal!
If OpenSolaris makes transition to GPLv3 then all 'open source'
world will migrate here. So it won't be something like GNU/Linux
but GNU/SunOS :). After some time Linux have to do same but
it'd be a little bit late because we'd acquire all market.
>
> Casper
>
>
Uros
-----------------------------------------------
"Every kind of peaceful cooperation among men
is primarily based on mutual trust and only
secondarily on institutions such as courts of
justice and police."
- Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
=0A=
_________________________________________________________________=0A=
Show them the way! Add maps and directions to your party invites. =0A=
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowslive/products/events.aspx=
_______________________________________________
opensolaris-discuss mailing list
[email protected]
