Messages in this thread | | | Date | Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:49:21 +0200 | From | Ingo Molnar <> | Subject | Re: Dual-Licensing Linux Kernel with GPL V2 and GPL V3 |
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* David Woodhouse <dwmw2@infradead.org> wrote:
> Who cares about whether the module is a derivative work? That's only > relevant when you distribute the module as a separate work. When you > ship a combined work including both the kernel and the module in > question, it's a _whole_ lot easier to interpret the GPL.
i fully support the notion you articulate, that whether bin-only modules are part of a derivative work of the kernel or whether they are independent works is not an automatic thing at all. The answer is: "it depends, talk to your lawyer". For example i'd say VMWare's ESX bin-only module is likely derived from the Linux kernel and should be distributed under the GPL, but that for example the ATI and nvidia drivers, although being a large PITA for all of us, are possibly independent works.
but lets note that this is irrelevant to the Tivo argument. Tivo is not using bin-only modules AFAIK, all their source code is available for download. (their kernel source is totally uninteresting by the way - they have some weird crap IDE controller with hacks that will never go upstream.)
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