Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-04-01 Thread devzero
Linux and OpenSource is evolution - go on and create your closed source drivers and do your own closed-source fork - go on and create your own little homo neanderthalensis ! ___ SMS schreiben mit WEB.DE FreeMail - einfach, schnell und k

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-26 Thread Alan
> Macrovision. Just about every vendors hardware can do Macrovision. They just forget to include the Macrovision control in published code, or hide it in a tiny extra driver (Matrox) or in the BIOS switching firmware (SiS) > Just so you know I'm not making this up: I know where the "defeat > Mac

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-26 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/25/07, Trent Waddington <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: On 2/26/07, Michael K. Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I know it's fun to blame everything on Redmond, but how about a > simpler explanation? Says the master of conspiracy. Yes, I rather chuckled at the irony as I wrote that one. :-

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-26 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/25/07, Alan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Busy-wait loops were a rhetorical flourish, I grant you. Thats a complicated fancy way of saying you were talking rubbish ? No, it's a way of saying "yes, there are deliberate performance limits in the driver code, but they're harder to explain tha

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-25 Thread D. Hazelton
On Sunday 25 February 2007 19:47, David Schwartz wrote: > > > Similary, there are many ways to write inline functions present in > > headers, and no, embedded developer being lazy does not mean they can > > copy those functions into their proprietary module. > > Yes, it does. Have you read Lexmark

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-25 Thread David Schwartz
> > Right, but *why* is he doing that? The answer: It is the most > > practical way > > to write his driver. > Most practical way to get something Windows compatible is to pirate > Windows; I do not think that gives me permission to do so. This is comparing apples to oranges because Windows has

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-25 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/26/07, Michael K. Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I know it's fun to blame everything on Redmond, but how about a simpler explanation? Says the master of conspiracy. Trent - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTE

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-25 Thread D. Hazelton
On Sunday 25 February 2007 06:54, Michael K. Edwards wrote: > On 2/25/07, Pavel Machek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > But a 20KLoC 3-D graphics driver that happens to #include > is not thereby a "derivative work" of the kernel, > no matter how many entrypoints are labeled EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL or > pro

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-25 Thread Pavel Machek
On Sun 2007-02-25 03:33:38, David Schwartz wrote: > > > But... how does situation change when Evil Linker does #include > > from his > > binary-only part? > > Right, but *why* is he doing that? The answer: It is the most practical way > to write his driver. Most practical way to get something W

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-25 Thread Alan
> Busy-wait loops were a rhetorical flourish, I grant you. Thats a complicated fancy way of saying you were talking rubbish ? Alan - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.o

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-25 Thread Stephen Clark
Pavel Machek wrote: Hi! Actually, it's quite clear under US law what a derivative work is and what rights you need to distribute it, and equally clear that compiling code does not make a "translation" in a copyright sense. Read Micro Star v. Formgen -- it's good law and it's funny and reada

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-25 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/25/07, Alan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > of other places too. Especially when the graphics chip maker explains > that keeping their driver source code closed isn't really an attempt > to hide their knowledge under a bushel basket. It's a defensive > measure against having their retail marg

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-25 Thread Alan
> of other places too. Especially when the graphics chip maker explains > that keeping their driver source code closed isn't really an attempt > to hide their knowledge under a bushel basket. It's a defensive > measure against having their retail margins destroyed by nitwits who > take out all th

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-25 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/25/07, Pavel Machek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Ok, but this is not realistic. I agree that if Evil Linker only adds two hooks "void pop_server_starting(), void pop_server_stopping()", he can get away with that. But... how does situation change when Evil Linker does #include from his binary

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-25 Thread David Schwartz
> But... how does situation change when Evil Linker does #include > from his > binary-only part? Right, but *why* is he doing that? The answer: It is the most practical way to write his driver. > I believe situation in this case changes a lot... And that's what > embedded people are doing; I do

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-25 Thread Pavel Machek
Hi! > Actually, it's quite clear under US law what a derivative work is and > what rights you need to distribute it, and equally clear that > compiling code does not make a "translation" in a copyright sense. > Read Micro Star v. Formgen -- it's good law and it's funny and > readable. > > I've dr

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-24 Thread Adrian Bunk
On Thu, Feb 22, 2007 at 11:45:22AM -0500, Theodore Tso wrote: >... > The only way GPL'ed code can be become copyrighted by the FSF is if > you explicitly sign a copyright statement >... And even this is only possible if permitted by copyright law. E.g. German copyright law explicitely states tha

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-22 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/22/07, Alan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Oh yeah? For IRIX in 1991? Or for that matter, for Linux/ARM EABI > today? Tell me, how many of what sort of users do you support Solaris (NTL - very large ISP/Telco), Dec server 5000 (for fun), Irix (and linux cross for Irix removal), MIPS embedd

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-22 Thread Randy Dunlap
On Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:18:26 + Alan wrote: > > me off, and in the meantime, you know where to find your keyboard's > > "stick my fingers in my ears and shout la-la-la-I-can't-hear-you" key. > > :-) > > I was hoping you'd take the pseudo-legal noise elsewhere. Yes. I find it interesting, bu

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-22 Thread Alan
> Oh yeah? For IRIX in 1991? Or for that matter, for Linux/ARM EABI > today? Tell me, how many of what sort of users do you support Solaris (NTL - very large ISP/Telco), Dec server 5000 (for fun), Irix (and linux cross for Irix removal), MIPS embedded (including the port to Linux of Algorithmic

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-22 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/22/07, Alan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > compiler people caught on to the economic opportunity. Ever pay $5K > for a CD full of GNU binaries for a commercial UNIX? I did, after No because I just downloaded them. Much easier and since they are GPL I was allowed to do so, then rebuilt them

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-22 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/22/07, D. Hazelton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > If you take the microsoft windows source code and compile it yourself > believe me you will get sued if you ship the resulting binaries and you > will lose in court. "misappropriation of trade secrets" as well as copyright infringement But

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-22 Thread D. Hazelton
On Thursday 22 February 2007 09:10, Alan wrote: > > As a side note: The distinct wording of the GPL actually *invalidates* > > the GNU/FSF claim that dynamically linking a work with, say, the readline > > library, means the work is a derivative of said library. The GPL states > > (in > > Not that

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-22 Thread D. Hazelton
On Thursday 22 February 2007 11:45, Theodore Tso wrote: > But saying that just by licensing your code under the GPL means that > the FSF owns your code? That's just crazy talk. > > - Ted Actually, I've replied with private messages to several mails

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-22 Thread Theodore Tso
On Wed, Feb 21, 2007 at 11:17:16PM -0500, D. Hazelton wrote: > Since I tailor the license I apply to code I produce to meet the needs of the > person or entity I am writing it for, I've never run into this. In truth, the > LGPL is, IMHO, a piece of garbage. (as is the GPL - if you release code un

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-22 Thread Alan
> compiler people caught on to the economic opportunity. Ever pay $5K > for a CD full of GNU binaries for a commercial UNIX? I did, after No because I just downloaded them. Much easier and since they are GPL I was allowed to do so, then rebuilt them all which took about 30 minutes of brain time

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-22 Thread Alan
> As a side note: The distinct wording of the GPL actually *invalidates* the > GNU/FSF claim that dynamically linking a work with, say, the readline > library, means the work is a derivative of said library. The GPL states (in Not that I can see no, but you could take this to a list with lawye

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-22 Thread Jon K Hellan
D. Hazelton wrote: (as is the GPL - if you release code under the GPL you no longer have a legal right to it. Note the following text that appears in the GPL: " We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-21 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/21/07, D. Hazelton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Actually, on re-reading the GPL, I see exactly why they made that pair of exceptions. Where it's quite evident that a small to mid scale parsers that could have been written *without* the use of Bison is clearly a non-derivative work - Bison was

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-21 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/22/07, D. Hazelton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: " We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the software." --IE: Once you release the code under the GPL, it becomes the *

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-21 Thread D. Hazelton
On Wednesday 21 February 2007 21:05, Michael K. Edwards wrote: > On 2/21/07, D. Hazelton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Related to that... Though a parser generated by Bison and a tokenizer > > generated by Flex both contain large chunks of GPL'd code, their > > inclusion in the source file that i

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-21 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/21/07, D. Hazelton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: On Wednesday 21 February 2007 19:28, Michael K. Edwards wrote: > I think you just misread. I said that the Evil Linker has cheerfully > shipped the source code of the modified POP server. He may not have > given you the compiler he compiled it

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-21 Thread D. Hazelton
On Wednesday 21 February 2007 19:28, Michael K. Edwards wrote: > I think you just misread. I said that the Evil Linker has cheerfully > shipped the source code of the modified POP server. He may not have > given you the compiler he compiled it with, wihout which the source > code is a nice piece

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-21 Thread Michael K. Edwards
I think you just misread. I said that the Evil Linker has cheerfully shipped the source code of the modified POP server. He may not have given you the compiler he compiled it with, wihout which the source code is a nice piece of literature but of no engineering utility; but that's the situation

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-21 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/21/07, Nuno Silva <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I can see that your argument is all about the defenition of a "derivative work". Far from it. Try reading to the end. We all know that #include is mostly non copyrightable, so I mostly agree that some - very very simple - modules may not nee

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-21 Thread David Lang
On Wed, 21 Feb 2007, Michael K. Edwards wrote: But wait, you say -- the Evil Linker modified, copied, and distributed my POP server too! That makes him subject to the terms of the GPL. And you're right; but to understand what that means, you're going to need to understand how a lawsuit for copy

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-21 Thread Nuno Silva
Michael K. Edwards wrote: > Actually, it's quite clear under US law what a derivative work is and > what rights you need to distribute it, and equally clear that > compiling code does not make a "translation" in a copyright sense. > Read Micro Star v. Formgen -- it's good law and it's funny and > r

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-21 Thread Michael K. Edwards
Actually, it's quite clear under US law what a derivative work is and what rights you need to distribute it, and equally clear that compiling code does not make a "translation" in a copyright sense. Read Micro Star v. Formgen -- it's good law and it's funny and readable. I've drafted summaries fr

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-21 Thread Helge Hafting
Jan-Benedict Glaw wrote: On Tue, 2007-02-20 15:36:56 +0100, Helge Hafting <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: If you have a need for "secret" source code, stuff most of it in userspace. Make the drivers truly minimal; perhaps their open/closed status won't matter that much when the bulk of the code a

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-20 Thread Jan-Benedict Glaw
On Tue, 2007-02-20 15:36:56 +0100, Helge Hafting <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > If you have a need for "secret" source code, stuff most of it > in userspace. Make the drivers truly minimal; perhaps their > open/closed status won't matter that much when the bulk > of the code and the cleverness is ke

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-20 Thread Valdis . Kletnieks
On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:00:51 +0100, Bernd Petrovitsch said: > Flame bait alert: > I heard a talk from an Austrian lawyer an according to his believes (and > I don't know if he is the only one or if there lots of) one must see > from the "users" view if the GPL spreads over or not (and the usual > t

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-20 Thread Bernd Petrovitsch
On Tue, 2007-02-20 at 10:14 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:00:51 +0100, Bernd Petrovitsch said: > > Flame bait alert: > > I heard a talk from an Austrian lawyer an according to his believes (and > > I don't know if he is the only one or if there lots of) one must see > > f

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-20 Thread Helge Hafting
v j wrote: Assuming these need not be GPL, I have a problem with EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL and the general trend in the direction of making proprietary drivers harder on companies. Our drivers use basic interfaces in the kernel like open, read, write, ioctl, semaphores, interrupts, timers etc. This is f

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-20 Thread Helge Hafting
v j wrote: You are trying to cram this in a simple yes or no box, and it just doesn't fit. There are questions nobody knows the answers to (such as what rights you need to distribute a derivative work or whether compiling code makes a translation). Thanks, all for the discussion. I certainly

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-20 Thread Bernd Petrovitsch
On Mon, 2007-02-19 at 21:19 -0800, v j wrote: [...] > Now it would also be worthwhile to contemplate what EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL > does to this popularity. I don't know. I am just giving you my The big problem with such discussions (as this) are: It is a law decision which license applies in which situ

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-20 Thread Nick Piggin
v j wrote: Now the popularity of Linux is exploding in the embedded space. Nobody talks of VxWorks and OSE anymore. It is all Linux. Perhaps it would be a worthwhile experiment to study this surge in popularity. I am not an expert, but perhaps the reason is "it works so goddamn well and has a we

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-20 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/20/07, Trent Waddington <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I don't think anyone wants to read that. I guess that was a stupid thing to say. Ok, fine people, Michael is ok with me posting this, so enjoy: http://rtfm.insomnia.org/~qg/chat-with-michael-k-edwards.html There ya go. Trent - To unsub

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-20 Thread v j
On 2/19/07, Trent Waddington <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Just in case anyone cares, after speaking with Michael for a few hours I've found he's not nearly as abrasive as this mailing list banter might suggest. He makes some good arguments once you stop him from spouting conspiracy stuff and, alth

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Trent Waddington
Just in case anyone cares, after speaking with Michael for a few hours I've found he's not nearly as abrasive as this mailing list banter might suggest. He makes some good arguments once you stop him from spouting conspiracy stuff and, although I don't agree with all of them, I think he has some

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread v j
You are trying to cram this in a simple yes or no box, and it just doesn't fit. There are questions nobody knows the answers to (such as what rights you need to distribute a derivative work or whether compiling code makes a translation). Thanks, all for the discussion. I certainly learnt a lot.

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread David Schwartz
Combined responses > On 2/20/07, Michael K. Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > There is no legal meaning to "combining" two works of authorship under > > the Berne Convention or any national implementation thereof. If you > > "compile" or "collect" them, you're in one area of law, and if you

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/20/07, Michael K. Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: And for those reading along at home, _surely_ you understand the meanings of "ambiguities in an offer of contract must be construed against the offeror", "'derivative work' and 'license' are terms of art in copyright law", and "not a valid

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Michael K. Edwards
And for those reading along at home, _surely_ you understand the meanings of "ambiguities in an offer of contract must be construed against the offeror", "'derivative work' and 'license' are terms of art in copyright law", and "not a valid limitation of scope". If not, I highly recommend to you t

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/20/07, Michael K. Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: No, dear, I'm just not interested in convincing you if you can't be bothered to look back in the thread and Google a bit. Think of it as a penny ante, which is pretty cheap in a card game with billion-dollar table stakes. Well, with tha

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/19/07, Trent Waddington <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: that's what I figured yes, as you're obviously not interested in convincing anyone of your opinions, otherwise you wouldn't mind repeating yourself when someone asks you a simple question. No, dear, I'm just not interested in convincing yo

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/20/07, Michael K. Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Can we put the gamesmanship on "low" here for a moment? Ask yourself which is more likely: am I a crank who spends years researching the legal background of the GPL solely for the purpose of ranting incoherently on debian-legal and LKML,

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/19/07, Trent Waddington <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hang on, you're actually debating that you have to abide by conditions of a license before you can copy a copyright work? Please, tell us the names of these appellate court decisions so that we can read them and weep. Can we put the games

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/20/07, Michael K. Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I don't have to argue these points, because they're obvious to anyone who cares to do their own homework. Appellate court decisions _are_ the law, my friend; read 'em and weep. Hang on, you're actually debating that you have to abide by

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/19/07, Trent Waddington <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Of course, now you're going to argue that there's no such thing as an "incompatible license" or "mere aggregation" and that these are just words that were made up for the GPL, so they can be ignored.. another pointless semantic argument beca

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/20/07, Michael K. Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: There is no legal meaning to "combining" two works of authorship under the Berne Convention or any national implementation thereof. If you "compile" or "collect" them, you're in one area of law, and if you create a work that "adapts" or "

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread David Schwartz
> On 2/20/07, David Schwartz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > There is no such thing as the "combined work". If I put a DVD > > of The Phantom > > Menace in the same box as a DVD of The Big Lebowski, the box is not a > > "combined work". > If you can't even agree on that the legal concept of a comb

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/19/07, Trent Waddington <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: On 2/20/07, Michael K. Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Bah. Show us a citation to treaty, statute, or case law, anywhere in > the world, Mr. Consensus-Reality. It's a given.. are you seriously contending that if you combine two copyri

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Michael Dreher
Am Montag, 19. Februar 2007 22:50 schrieb Michael K. Edwards: > On 2/19/07, linux-os (Dick Johnson) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > FWIW. A license is NOT a contract in the United States, according to > > contract law. A primary requirement of a contract is an agreement. A > > contract cannot, there

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/20/07, Michael K. Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Bah. Show us a citation to treaty, statute, or case law, anywhere in the world, Mr. Consensus-Reality. It's a given.. are you seriously contending that if you combine two copyright works you are not obliged to conform with the condition

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/19/07, Trent Waddington <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: If you can't even agree on that the legal concept of a combined work exists then you're obviously too far from reality for anyone to reason with. Bah. Show us a citation to treaty, statute, or case law, anywhere in the world, Mr. Consensu

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/19/07, linux-os (Dick Johnson) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: FWIW. A license is NOT a contract in the United States, according to contract law. A primary requirement of a contract is an agreement. A contract cannot, therefore, be forced. Licenses, on the other hand, can be forced upon the user

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/20/07, David Schwartz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: There is no such thing as the "combined work". If I put a DVD of The Phantom Menace in the same box as a DVD of The Big Lebowski, the box is not a "combined work". If you can't even agree on that the legal concept of a combined work exists t

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread linux-os \(Dick Johnson\)
On Mon, 19 Feb 2007, Michael K. Edwards wrote: > On 2/19/07, Alan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> jurisdiction. Copyright infringement is a statutory tort, and the >>> only limits to contracting away the right to sue for this tort are >>> those provided in the copyright statute itself. A contrac

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/19/07, Alan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > jurisdiction. Copyright infringement is a statutory tort, and the > only limits to contracting away the right to sue for this tort are > those provided in the copyright statute itself. A contract not to sue > for tort is called a "license".) I'd in

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread Alan
> jurisdiction. Copyright infringement is a statutory tort, and the > only limits to contracting away the right to sue for this tort are > those provided in the copyright statute itself. A contract not to sue > for tort is called a "license".) I'd insert large quantities of "In the USA" in the a

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread David Schwartz
> On Saturday 17 February 2007 15:19, David Schwartz wrote: > > Static Controls argued that taking the TLP was the only practical way to > > make a cartridge that would work with that printer. > Which shows how that case is different from writing Linux drivers. For > example, looking at the exam

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-19 Thread David Schwartz
> Sigh. VJ is distributing the linux kernel with proprietary > extensions. If you want to argue that the proprietary extensions in > isolation are not derivative works of the kernel, fine, you might have > a case, but the combined work, which VJ is distributing is *clearly* a > derivative work a

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-18 Thread Michael K. Edwards
Eensy weensy follow-up. No screed. Well, maybe just a _little_ screed. On 2/18/07, Oleg Verych <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Ulrich Drepper is known to be against current FSF's position on glibc licence changing. Will that stop the FSF? Will it stop Red Hat, MontaVista, or CodeSourcery? Even

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-18 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/18/07, Theodore Tso <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Actually, the FSF and many of its representatives, has claimed, on many occassions, that the GPL infects across dynamic linking. That is, if you write your own code that calls readline which links via a dynamically linked shared library, and pe

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-18 Thread Pavel Machek
Hi! > >Contrawise, if Embedded developers do contribute their > >device driver > >changes back to the kernel, they will be fine. ... > --- > > In fairness, though, some of the developers WILL bitch > about your not > using a recent kernel and not providing patches until > products ship, > des

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-18 Thread Pavel Machek
Hi! > >> (See, among other cases, Lexmark. v. Static > >> Controls.) A copyright is not a patent, you can only > >own something if there > >> are multiple equally good ways to do it and you claim > >*one* of them. > > > >Only in a world where "write a Linux module" is a > >"functional idea." I

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-18 Thread Theodore Tso
On Sun, Feb 18, 2007 at 01:26:47PM +1000, Trent Waddington wrote: > Such a strange attitude.. to go to all this effort to quote carefully > and correctly one set of people and to then total misconstrue the > words of another. > > The FSF's argument in regards to readline is that you may not > dist

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-18 Thread Giuseppe Bilotta
On Sunday 18 February 2007 00:55, Michael K. Edwards wrote: > Or they could run: >     find . -type f -exec perl -i.bak -pe 's/EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL/EXPORT_SYMBOL/g' > and be done with it.  Or even just MODULE_LICENSE("GPL") in their > module -- that's not "lying about the module license", it's "doing

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-18 Thread Oleg Verych
> From: "Michael K. Edwards" > Newsgroups: gmane.linux.kernel > Subject: Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers > Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2007 22:56:00 -0800 [] > How are you going to like being forced to fork the entire GNU corpus in > whatever state it's in the day before

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On second thought, let's not deconstruct this. It's too much work, and it's a waste of time. Because if you can't read "anything other people wrote is fair game, but what we write is sacred; our strategy is to cajole when we can and strong-arm when we can't, and the law be damned" into that, no

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Michael K. Edwards
This screed is the last that I am going to pollute LKML with, at least for a while. I'll write again if and when I have source code to contribute, and if my off-topic vitriol renders my technical contributions (if and when) unwelcome, I'll understand. FSF skulduggery is not very relevant to the

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Alexandre Oliva
On Feb 17, 2007, "David Schwartz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> On Saturday 17 February 2007 03:42, David Schwartz wrote: >> >> > Again, see Lexmark v. Static Controls. If "make a toner cartridge >> > that works with a particular Lexmark printer" is a functional >> > idea, why is "make a graphics

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Alexandre Oliva
On Feb 17, 2007, "David Schwartz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Interestingly, if you are right, then what online translation services like > babelfish [...] > but much harder to argue that it gives them the right to create a derivative > work. (Of course, you could argue fair use.) One could try

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/18/07, Michael K. Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: If you can read that and still tolerate the stench of the FSF's argument that linking against readline means they 0wn your source code, you have a stronger stomach than I. Such a strange attitude.. to go to all this effort to quote caref

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/17/07, Neil Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Suppose someone created a work of fiction titled - for example - "Picnic at Hanging Rock". And suppose further that this someone left some issues unresolved at the end of the story, leaving many readers feeling that they wanted one more chapter t

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/18/07, David Lang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: by this same logic the EULA's that various commercial vendors use are completely valid, it doesn't matter what the intent is if it's not a legal thing to require. Yes, it does matter.. the author of the work has defined the terms under which yo

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread David Lang
On Sun, 18 Feb 2007, Trent Waddington wrote: Despite which, legal bullshit is best left for lawyers.. the *intent* of the GPL is that if you distribute *any* changes, extensions or plugins for a GPL work, you do so under the GPL. The law may not allow for this to be enforced, but it shouldn't n

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Trent Waddington
On 2/17/07, David Schwartz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I don't think that's grey at all. I think it's perfectly clear that linking cannot create a derivative work. No automated process can -- it takes creativity to create a derivative work. (That doesn't mean that just because you can link A to B,

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/17/07, Giuseppe Bilotta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Which shows how that case is different from writing Linux drivers. For example, looking at the example the OP was himself proposing a few alternative approaches to work around the limitation they were hitting: could just switch to static maj

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Giuseppe Bilotta
On Saturday 17 February 2007 15:19, David Schwartz wrote: > Static Controls argued that taking the TLP was the only practical way to > make a cartridge that would work with that printer. Which shows how that case is different from writing Linux drivers. For example, looking at the example the OP

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/17/07, Dave Neuer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I think you are reading Lexmark wrong. First off, Lexmark ruled that scenes a faire applied to the toner-level calculation, not "make a toner cartridge that works with a particular Lexmark printer." It was the toner-calculation algorithm that coul

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread David Schwartz
> You're saying that there's no other way to interface device drivers to > an operating system than the current Linux driver model? Interfacing an X1900 graphics card to FreeBSD and interfacing an X1900 graphics card to Linux are two different ideas. They are *not* two expressions of the same ide

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Dave Neuer
On 2/16/07, David Schwartz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 2/16/07, David Schwartz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > (See, among other cases, Lexmark. v. Static > > Controls.) A copyright is not a patent, you can only own > > something if there > > are multiple equally good ways to do it and you c

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread David Schwartz
> On 2/17/07, Alexandre Oliva <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Per this principle, it would seem that only source code and > > hand-crafted object code would be governed by copyright, since > > compilation is also an automated process. > Well, compilation is probably equivalent to "translation", w

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Michael K. Edwards
On 2/17/07, Scott Preece <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Well, compilation is probably equivalent to "translation", which is specifically included in the Act as forming a derivative work. Nix. "Translation" is something that humans do. What's governed by copyright is the creative expression contai

Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Scott Preece
On 2/17/07, Alexandre Oliva <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Per this principle, it would seem that only source code and hand-crafted object code would be governed by copyright, since compilation is also an automated process. --- Well, compilation is probably equivalent to "translation", which is sp

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread David Schwartz
> On Saturday 17 February 2007 03:42, David Schwartz wrote: > > > Again, see Lexmark v. Static Controls. If "make a toner cartridge that > > works > > with a particular Lexmark printer" is a functional idea, why is "make a > > graphics driver that works with a particular Linux kernel" not? What is

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread David Schwartz
(combined responses) > On Feb 17, 2007, "David Schwartz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >> Linking with kernel exported symbols in a kernel module is by many > >> people considered creating a work derived from the kernel. > > That's simply unreasonable. It is the most clear settled law that only

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Giuseppe Bilotta
On Saturday 17 February 2007 03:42, David Schwartz wrote: > Again, see Lexmark v. Static Controls. If "make a toner cartridge that works > with a particular Lexmark printer" is a functional idea, why is "make a > graphics driver that works with a particular Linux kernel" not? What is the > differe

RE: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

2007-02-17 Thread Neil Brown
On Friday February 16, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > I cite the case only because it does a good job of explaining the principle. > Copyright cannot allow you to own every practical way of accomplishing > something. It can only allow you to own the one particular way you chose to > do something out

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