Messages in this thread |  | | From | (bill davidsen) | Subject | Re: large page patch (fwd) (fwd) | Date | 22 Aug 2002 12:03:55 GMT |
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In article <Pine.LNX.4.44L.0208131425500.23404-100000@imladris.surriel.com>, Rik van Riel <riel@conectiva.com.br> wrote:
| Suppose somebody sends you a patch which implements a nice | algorithm that just happens to be patented by that same | somebody. You don't know about the patent. | | You integrate the patch into the kernel and distribute it, | one year later you get sued by the original contributor of | that patch because you distribute code that is patented by | that person. | | Not having some protection in the license could open you | up to sneaky after-the-fact problems. | | Having a license that explicitly states that people who | contribute and use Linux shouldn't sue you over it might | prevent some problems.
Unlikely as this is, since offering the patch would probably be (eventually) interpreted as giving you the right to use it under GPL, I think this is a valid concern.
Maybe some lawyer could add the required words and it could become the LFSL v1.0 (Linux Free Software License). Although FSF would probably buy into a change if the alternative was creation of a Linux license. There are people there who are in touch with reality. -- bill davidsen <davidsen@tmr.com> CTO, TMR Associates, Inc Doing interesting things with little computers since 1979. - 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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