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    Subjectndiswrapper and GPL-only symbols redux
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    Hello!

    It have come to my attention that a patch has been committed to the
    kernel with the explicit purpose of tainting ndiswrapper - the kernel
    module allowing Windows NDIS drivers for Ethernet and Wireless cards to
    be used by the kernel.

    That's the commit in question:
    http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=0aa5bd52d0c49ca56d24584c646e6544ccbb3dc9

    It is not the first time it has happened. The same was done in October
    2006. A heated discussion ensued, and the patch was reverted as
    erroneous. For those wishing to refresh their memories, this LWN story
    would be a great starting point:

    http://lwn.net/Articles/205644/

    I'd like to see this mistake to be fixed without lengthy arguments this
    time around.

    Just to reiterate some points from the old discussion:

    - ndiswrapper is licensed under GPL

    - ndiswrapper needs GPL-only symbols

    - tainting ndiswrapper denies its access to GPL-only symbols

    - denying ndiswrapper access to GPL-only symbols is unfair and not based
    on any copyright law

    - denying ndiswrapper access to GPL-only symbols makes it impossible for
    ndiswrapper to function

    - no copyright violation is involved, as Windows drivers are not derived
    from Linux sources

    - Windows drivers don't call GPL-only symbols directly; ndiswrapper
    stands in the middle and sanitizes the access

    - it's a fair game to taint the kernel in some way if ndiswrapper has
    been loaded at some point, since tainting per se is just an indicator
    that the kernel has been used in an unsupportable way

    - if this change stands, ndiswrapper will be renamed, which would only
    create more confusion and would thus defeat the purpose of tainting

    - ndiswrapper is used by kernel developers to create native drivers

    - ndiswrapper is a stepping stone towards a completely free OS; take it
    away and see less users, less testers and less reverse engineering
    efforts

    --
    Regards,
    Pavel Roskin


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