lkml.org 
[lkml]   [2003]   [Dec]   [3]   [last100]   RSS Feed
Views: [wrap][no wrap]   [headers]  [forward] 
 
Messages in this thread
/
Date
From
SubjectRe: Linux GPL and binary module exception clause?
David Lang wrote:
> becouse of this you could take the kernel and include any propriatary code
> in it that you want and run it. You don't even need to use modules, just
> paste in th code and compile (make sure you have a legal right to the code
> you are pasting in though :-)

To elaborate on this: most patches which apply to the Linux kernel are
clearly derived works of the kernel.[*]

You can write and apply such a patch , but if you distribute the patch
it must be licensed under the GPL.

Thus while _you_ may take a Linux kernel and include any proprietary
code you want in it, a vendor _may not_ send you a patch which applies
to the Linux kernel if the patch is not licensed under the GPL or a
compatible license. A vendor is not allowed to restrict your rights
in this way.

[*] Exceptions would be patches which are very small (<10 lines is
sometimes suggested, but it's not a hard boundary), and patches which
simply add code which is clearly not derived form the kernel, as Linus
described.

-- Jamie
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/

\
 
 \ /
  Last update: 2005-03-22 13:59    [W:0.047 / U:3.260 seconds]
©2003-2020 Jasper Spaans|hosted at Digital Ocean and TransIP|Read the blog|Advertise on this site