Re: GPL compliance issue with liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin firmware
On Wed, Aug 29, 2018 at 09:26:35PM +0100, Ben Hutchings wrote: > Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2018 21:26:35 +0100 > From: Ben Hutchings > To: Felix Manlunas , Florian Weimer > > CC: linux-firmw...@kernel.org, "netdev@vger.kernel.org" > , Derek Chickles > , Satanand Burla > , Felix Manlunas > , Raghu Vatsavayi > , Manish Awasthi > , manojkumar.panic...@cavium.com > Subject: Re: GPL compliance issue with liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin firmware > User-Agent: Evolution 3.29.92-1 > > On Mon, 2018-08-27 at 17:04 -0700, Felix Manlunas wrote: > > On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 05:01:10PM +0200, Florian Weimer wrote: > > > liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin contains a compiled MIPS Linux kernel: > > > > > > $ tail --bytes=+1313 liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin > elf > > > $ readelf -aW elf > > > […] > > > [ 6] __ksymtab PROGBITS80e495f8 64a5f8 00d130 > > > 00 A 0 0 8 > > > [ 7] __ksymtab_gpl PROGBITS80e56728 657728 008400 > > > 00 A 0 0 8 > > > [ 8] __ksymtab_strings PROGBITS80e5eb28 65fb28 018868 > > > 00 A 0 0 1 > > > […] > > > Symbol table '.symtab' contains 1349 entries: > > >Num:Value Size TypeBind Vis Ndx Name > > > 0: 0 NOTYPE LOCAL DEFAULT UND > > > 1: 0 FILELOCAL DEFAULT ABS > > > arch/mips/kernel/head.o > > > 2: 0 FILELOCAL DEFAULT ABS init/main.c > > > 3: 0 FILELOCAL DEFAULT ABS > > > include/linux/types.h > > > […] > > > > > > Yet there is no corresponding source provided, and LICENCE.cavium lacks > > > the required notices. > > > > > > Thanks, > > > Florian > > > > Cavium apologizes for the oversight. Cavium has been advertising the > > appropriate license terms including the existence of GPL in the firmware > > in our outbox releases. We will update the license terms in LICENCE.cavium > > in our upstream contribution in collaboration with our legal team. > > Everything added to linux-firmware.git needs to be safe for Linux > distributions to redistribute. (There are some ancient firmware images > with unclear licensing, but we don't want to add any more.) > > My understanding is that GPL v2 requires that commercial distributors > either provide the complete and corresponding source alongside the > binaries, or include a written offer to provide it later. They > *cannot* simply point to your offer to do this (only non-commercial > distributors can do that). So the source needs to be published too. > > Adding the complete Linux kernel source code to linux-firmware.git > doesn't seem like a sensible step, so maybe this particular firmware > needs to live elsewhere. > > Ben. Apologies for the delay. We're committed to provide sources for the GPL components of LiquidIO firmware. After Cavium's recent merger with Marvell, we are revisiting our Licensing and expect to share the updated license soon. Since keeping Linux kernel source code in linux-firmware.git doesn't make sense to us too, we're also working internally on identifying the appropriate mechanism to share those sources when requested. That said, it is our opinion that for all practical purposes (for example, distribution of driver + firmware) the firmware binary for LiquidIO adapters should continue to reside in the linux-firmware.git as long as all the prerequisites for sharing the firmware are met. In the case of liquidio_23xx_vsw.bin, this would mean an additional license type in the LICENCE.cavium file for this firmware including a reference to the accompanying sources for the Linux kernel bundled in the firmware. As we understand, there is no precedent in the linux-firmware.git for device firmware that include a Linux kernel so we also request comments from community on the best ways to support the LiquidIO firmware and similar firmwares that may appear in future. Cavium LiquidIO Team
Re: GPL compliance issue with liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin firmware
On Mon, 2018-08-27 at 17:04 -0700, Felix Manlunas wrote: > On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 05:01:10PM +0200, Florian Weimer wrote: > > liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin contains a compiled MIPS Linux kernel: > > > > $ tail --bytes=+1313 liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin > elf > > $ readelf -aW elf > > […] > > [ 6] __ksymtab PROGBITS80e495f8 64a5f8 00d130 > > 00 A 0 0 8 > > [ 7] __ksymtab_gpl PROGBITS80e56728 657728 008400 > > 00 A 0 0 8 > > [ 8] __ksymtab_strings PROGBITS80e5eb28 65fb28 018868 > > 00 A 0 0 1 > > […] > > Symbol table '.symtab' contains 1349 entries: > >Num:Value Size TypeBind Vis Ndx Name > > 0: 0 NOTYPE LOCAL DEFAULT UND > > 1: 0 FILELOCAL DEFAULT ABS > > arch/mips/kernel/head.o > > 2: 0 FILELOCAL DEFAULT ABS init/main.c > > 3: 0 FILELOCAL DEFAULT ABS > > include/linux/types.h > > […] > > > > Yet there is no corresponding source provided, and LICENCE.cavium lacks > > the required notices. > > > > Thanks, > > Florian > > Cavium apologizes for the oversight. Cavium has been advertising the > appropriate license terms including the existence of GPL in the firmware > in our outbox releases. We will update the license terms in LICENCE.cavium > in our upstream contribution in collaboration with our legal team. Everything added to linux-firmware.git needs to be safe for Linux distributions to redistribute. (There are some ancient firmware images with unclear licensing, but we don't want to add any more.) My understanding is that GPL v2 requires that commercial distributors either provide the complete and corresponding source alongside the binaries, or include a written offer to provide it later. They *cannot* simply point to your offer to do this (only non-commercial distributors can do that). So the source needs to be published too. Adding the complete Linux kernel source code to linux-firmware.git doesn't seem like a sensible step, so maybe this particular firmware needs to live elsewhere. Ben. -- Ben Hutchings For every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part
Re: GPL compliance issue with liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin firmware
On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 05:01:10PM +0200, Florian Weimer wrote: > liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin contains a compiled MIPS Linux kernel: > > $ tail --bytes=+1313 liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin > elf > $ readelf -aW elf > […] > [ 6] __ksymtab PROGBITS80e495f8 64a5f8 00d130 > 00 A 0 0 8 > [ 7] __ksymtab_gpl PROGBITS80e56728 657728 008400 > 00 A 0 0 8 > [ 8] __ksymtab_strings PROGBITS80e5eb28 65fb28 018868 > 00 A 0 0 1 > […] > Symbol table '.symtab' contains 1349 entries: >Num:Value Size TypeBind Vis Ndx Name > 0: 0 NOTYPE LOCAL DEFAULT UND > 1: 0 FILELOCAL DEFAULT ABS > arch/mips/kernel/head.o > 2: 0 FILELOCAL DEFAULT ABS init/main.c > 3: 0 FILELOCAL DEFAULT ABS > include/linux/types.h > […] > > Yet there is no corresponding source provided, and LICENCE.cavium lacks > the required notices. > > Thanks, > Florian Cavium apologizes for the oversight. Cavium has been advertising the appropriate license terms including the existence of GPL in the firmware in our outbox releases. We will update the license terms in LICENCE.cavium in our upstream contribution in collaboration with our legal team. Felix
GPL compliance issue with liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin firmware
liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin contains a compiled MIPS Linux kernel: $ tail --bytes=+1313 liquidio/lio_23xx_vsw.bin > elf $ readelf -aW elf […] [ 6] __ksymtab PROGBITS80e495f8 64a5f8 00d130 00 A 0 0 8 [ 7] __ksymtab_gpl PROGBITS80e56728 657728 008400 00 A 0 0 8 [ 8] __ksymtab_strings PROGBITS80e5eb28 65fb28 018868 00 A 0 0 1 […] Symbol table '.symtab' contains 1349 entries: Num:Value Size TypeBind Vis Ndx Name 0: 0 NOTYPE LOCAL DEFAULT UND 1: 0 FILELOCAL DEFAULT ABS arch/mips/kernel/head.o 2: 0 FILELOCAL DEFAULT ABS init/main.c 3: 0 FILELOCAL DEFAULT ABS include/linux/types.h […] Yet there is no corresponding source provided, and LICENCE.cavium lacks the required notices. Thanks, Florian
