Messages in this thread | | | Date | Fri, 19 Apr 1996 17:13:36 -0400 | From | "Theodore Y. Ts'o" <> | Subject | Re: New sound maintainer? |
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For the long term, I believe we should do the work necessary to loosen up the GPL restrictions to allow BSD code into our kernel. This isn't hard; it basically means that we allow BSD restrictions as well as the GPL restrictions --- and the BSD restrictions aren't all that harsh, folks.
For that matter, we have BSD code in the kernel already --- the SLIP/PPP compression code, written by Van Jacobson.
What it does mean is that we would need some way of obtaining the consent of all of the (at least major) contributors to the Linux kernel. Since unlike the FSF, there is no single copyright holder to the code in the Linux kernel, I've always consider the GPL to have more force by dint of moral pursuasion than threat of a legal lawsuit. So perhaps something where all of the major contributed PGP-signed some document would be considered sufficient.
I have a draft of such a document, if people are interested.... obviously this is something that Linus and the rest of the major kernel authors would have to agree upon.
- Ted
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