Messages in this thread | | | Date | Tue, 30 Sep 1997 22:30:44 -0400 | From | "Theodore Y. Ts'o" <> | Subject | Re: Solaris 2.6 and Linux |
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From: Andrew Tridgell <tridge@samba.anu.edu.au> Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 12:00:48 +1000
I think you overestimate the legal difficulties of using GPL code in embedded systems.
As an example, look at www.whistle.com. They sell an embedded system called a InterJet that has Samba (which is under the GPL) built in.
There are different kinds of embedded systems. The Interjet is basically a computer with some turnkey software in it.
There are also people who make embedded systems which ultimately might end up in your car, or refridgerator, or home automation system, or whatever. There, the software is more like microcode, and the embedded system might be wrapped into a bigger subcomponent, which is then put into some bigger product.
So for example, take an embedded system (say, some kind of radio/location security device) which is embedded inside a car radio, which is then packaged as part of a car. If at each stage of the embedded system, you need to carry over the fact that "this car contains a radio which contains a security device which contains software in ROM which uses the GNU libc, and here's the FTP site to obtain the GNU libc source code," do you really think that (a) the car owner will really care, and (b) the automobile manufacturer might simply decide that it's much simpler to use another radio that doesn't require having this kind of disclaimer in the owner's manual?
Suppose you have car with ten or twenty of such subcomponents, all from varying different manufacturers, and all requiring a different FTP site where you can download a slightly different version of the GNU libc source code. Doesn't this seem a little bit ridiculous to you?
Well, apparently it seemed really silly to Cygnus's customers, anyway, and so Cygnus has a completely free (no GPL strings attached) version of libc for their embedded systems customers.
In any case, what does this have to do with the Linux kernel?
- Ted
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