Messages in this thread | | | Date | Thu, 7 Feb 2008 14:06:29 +0000 | From | Alan Cox <> | Subject | Re: [PATCH] USB: mark USB drivers as being GPL only |
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> Perhaps you might read up on unfair trade practices and contract law.
I'm familiar with them to some extent because I have run companies in the past and continue to do so as a sideline to my Red Hat work. I also spend more time than I'd like talking to lawyers about licencing.
> The contract (GPL) doesn't prevent me from using GPL work, in fact it > encourages me. Neither can it impose conditions upon original work > authored by a third party.
First mistake: The GPL is not a contract it is a license.
If the GPL was a contract it could most certainly impose conditions upon original works. Contract law permits to write things like "If you buy the source for this package you agree not to write a competing product for three years even if an origina work".
Alan
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