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    SubjectRe: GPL only modules [was Re: [GIT PATCH] more Driver core patches for 2.6.19]
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    On Saturday, 16 December 2006 11:50, Willy Tarreau wrote:
    > On Sat, Dec 16, 2006 at 11:28:27AM +0100, Rafael J. Wysocki wrote:
    > > On Saturday, 16 December 2006 07:43, Willy Tarreau wrote:
    > > > On Fri, Dec 15, 2006 at 06:55:17PM -0800, Linus Torvalds wrote:
    > > > >
    > > > >
    > > > > On Sat, 16 Dec 2006, karderio wrote:
    > > > > >
    > > > > > As it stands, I believe the licence of the Linux kernel does impose
    > > > > > certain restrictions and come with certain obligations
    > > > >
    > > > > Absolutely. And they boil down to something very simple:
    > > > >
    > > > > "Derived works have to be under the same license"
    > > > >
    > > > > where the rest is just really fluff.
    > > > >
    > > > > But the point is, "derived work" is not what _you_ or _I_ define. It's
    > > > > what copyright law defines.
    > > > >
    > > > > And trying to push that definition too far is a total disaster. If you
    > > > > push the definition of derived work to "anything that touches our work",
    > > > > you're going to end up in a very dark and unhappy place. One where the
    > > > > RIAA is your best buddy.
    > > > >
    > > > > And the proposed "we make some technical measure whereby we draw our _own_
    > > > > lines" is exactly that total disaster.
    > > > >
    > > > > We don't draw our own lines. We accept that the lines are drawn for us by
    > > > > copyright law, and we actually _hope_ that the lines aren't too sharp and
    > > > > too clearcut. Because sharp edges on copyright is the worst possible
    > > > > situation we could ever be in.
    > > > >
    > > > > The reason fair use is so important is exactly that it blunts/dulls the
    > > > > sharp knife that overly strong copyright protection could be.
    > > >
    > > > All this is about "fair use", and "fair use" comes from compatibility
    > > > between the author's intent and the user's intent. For this exact reason,
    > > > I have added a "LICENSE" file [1] in my software (haproxy) stating that I
    > > > explicitly permit linking with binary code if the user has no other choice
    > > > (eg: protocols specs obtained under NDA), provided that "derived work"
    > > > does not steal any GPL code (include files are under LGPL). On the other
    > > > hand, all "common protocols" are developped under GPL so that normal users
    > > > are the winners, and everyone is strongly encouraged to use the GPL for
    > > > their new code to benefit from everyone else's eyes on the code.
    > > >
    > > > This clarifies my intent and let developers decide whether *they* are
    > > > doing legal things or not.
    > > >
    > > > Don't you think it would be a good idea to add such a precision in the
    > > > sources ? It could put an end to all those repeated lessons you have to
    > > > teach to a lot of people about fair use. Or perhaps you like to put
    > > > your teacher hat once a month ? :-)
    > >
    > > I think the most important problem with the binary-only drivers is that we
    > > can't support their users _at_ _all_, but some of them expect us to support
    > > them somehow.
    >
    > Agreed this is the most important problem.
    >
    > > So, why don't we make an official statement, like something that will appear
    > > on the front page of www.kernel.org, that the users of binary-only drivers
    > > will never get any support from us? That would make things crystal clear.
    >
    > This would constitute a good starting point. But what I was trying
    > to address is the other side of the problem : all the politicial
    > discussions on LKML which make the developers waste their time
    > always trying to explain the same things to extremist people (you
    > see, "we must forbid binary drivers to protect users freedom" and
    > "I'm free to run whatever I want"). I don't care at all about what
    > those people think and I don't like the way they want to impose
    > their vision to others. But above all, but I'm fed up with those
    > recurrent subjects on development and bug reporting mailing list,
    > they waste everyone's time.

    Agreed.

    Greetings,
    Rafael
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