lkml.org 
[lkml]   [1998]   [Sep]   [18]   [last100]   RSS Feed
Views: [wrap][no wrap]   [headers]  [forward] 
 
Messages in this thread
/
SubjectRe: Linux, UDI and SCO.
From
Date
Pavel Machek <pavel@atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz> writes:

> Even with UDI, SCO can not use Linux drivers: linux drivers _have to_
> be GPL in order to link with kernel. And unless SCO is going GPL, they
> can not link with GPL code... (Unless they find way to insert GPL code
> as a module - that might be legal.)

I'm not sure where this conception comes from -- there are certainly
modules in use (such as AFS) that run under Linux and are not GPLed.
Likewise, there is no restriction on any use a proprietary OS may make
of a GPLed module -- in general, the proprietary OS would not depend on
the GPLed module, so it would not be a derivative work. Thus, the
proprietary OS need not be distributed under the GPL.

For those who wonder, the relevant section is in paragraph 2 of GPLv2:

> These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If
> identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program,
> and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in
> themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those
> sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you
> distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based
> on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of
> this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the
> entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.

If the OS is truly functional without the module, it is not a derivative
work, and I don't think any proprietary OS is sold broken. If the module
is distributed separately from the proprietary OS, the first part of the
paragraph applies. If the module is distributed with the OS, then it
becomes vague -- does putting GPLed stuff on a separate floppy or CD-ROM
count as 'separate distribution'? IMO, this is a reasonable assertion;
the distribution issue is similar to RedHat's commercial add-ins with their
official CD-ROMs -- when you buy the CD-ROM, you get not only Linux and all
the other free stuff, but also licenses for proprietary things that you may
(at your option) use with Linux, and which are even on the same CD-ROM.

-- Michael

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

\
 
 \ /
  Last update: 2005-03-22 13:44    [W:1.343 / U:0.200 seconds]
©2003-2020 Jasper Spaans|hosted at Digital Ocean and TransIP|Read the blog|Advertise on this site