Messages in this thread | | | Date | Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:01:24 +1030 | From | David Newall <> | Subject | Re: [PATCH] USB: mark USB drivers as being GPL only |
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Hans-Jürgen Koch wrote: > Am Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:49:42 +1030 > schrieb David Newall <davidn@davidnewall.com>: > >> Nobody is saying "I don't like your licence." The issue is a >> technical restriction in Linux that attempts to restrict non-GPL >> software from running under it. >> > > What are you trying to say? You like the license but you're against > enforcing it? >
I told you: the GPL does not preclude inter-operation with non-GPL software.
>> It's a bullish approach, technically incompetent, >> > > What's incompetent? > It's easily defeated.
>> legally meaningless >> > > It is not legally meaningless if copyright holders publicly state how > they interpret the license and what they consider a license violation. >
Copyright-holders' opinions mean nothing. In the particular case of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL, copyright-holders' opinions are clearly flawed because they make a statement about code that they do not even know of. It's equivalent to someone saying, "you are wrong," before you've even thought about saying something.
> In the end, a court must decide, but lots of courts will at least look > at the statements the copyright holders made over the years. > > >> and politically damaging. >> > > That's your opinion because it's damaging _your_ political goals. >
How ludicrous. That's as much a nonsense as EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL. You have no idea what my political goals are.
Less there be further confusion: I am not an advocate for binary drivers. That role is reserved for others. However that does not stop me from criticising something that is obviously wrong. Stating that only a GPL code is permitted to use a symbol contravenes the GPL, because the GPL states no such requirement. Saying that it's impossible for code that uses the symbol to be non-GPL (as has been claimed) is a lie at worst, and a hope at best. Nobody claiming such a thing could know it to be true. (It is not true.) -- 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/
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