Messages in this thread | | | Date | Thu, 28 Feb 2002 01:51:52 +0100 | From | Erik Mouw <> | Subject | Re: Kernel module ethics. |
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On Wed, Feb 27, 2002 at 05:23:41PM -0500, Richard B. Johnson wrote: > So, enter the compromise. Make your proprietary stuff in separate file(s) > known only to your company. This keeps them trade secret. Compile them > into a library. Provide that library with your module. The functions > contained within that library should be documented as well as the > calling parameters (a header file). This helps GPL maintainers > determine if your library is broken.
Brilliant, this violates section 2b from the GPLv2. If that's OK with you, see a lawyer first.
A couple of months ago Larry McVoy gave this excellent advice:
If you really want to know where you stand, it'll cost you around $15K and that, in my opinion, is fine. If it isn't worth $15K to protect your code then it is worth so little to you that there really is no good reason not to just GPL it from the start.
Erik
-- J.A.K. (Erik) Mouw, Information and Communication Theory Group, Faculty of Information Technology and Systems, Delft University of Technology, PO BOX 5031, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands Phone: +31-15-2783635 Fax: +31-15-2781843 Email: J.A.K.Mouw@its.tudelft.nl WWW: http://www-ict.its.tudelft.nl/~erik/ - 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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