[Fedora-legal-list] Linux firmware

[Alexandre Oliva]

On May  4, 2009, "Tom \"spot\" Callaway" <tcallawa at redhat.com> wrote:

> Is this what you're talking about? (And if so, why couldn't you just
> &*#$ing say so?)

Message-ID: <orfxfsndp8.fsf at oliva.athome.lsd.ic.unicamp.br>

[...] it's a driver under a license that's not even compatible with
GPLv2?

Message-ID: <or4ow7nzrj.fsf at oliva.athome.lsd.ic.unicamp.br>

This is about [...] (ii) combining *driver* (rather than firmware) code
that's under GPL-incompatible terms with the GPLed code in the rest of
the kernel.

Message-ID: <orvdonkv36.fsf at oliva.athome.lsd.ic.unicamp.br>

The one situation in which there are derived works is that the driver B
is derived from Linux, but then it sets forth an additional restriction,
which is incompatible with the GPL that governs the creation and
distribution of derived works.

Message-ID: <or7i12sp6p.fsf at free.oliva.athome.lsd.ic.unicamp.br>

1. combining GPLed Linux code with *driver* (!= firmware) code derived
from GPLed code that adds incompatible restrictions => GPL violation,
enforceable by *any* Linux copyright holder

> If it is, this isn't a copyright violation.

Distributing this piece of code derived from GPLed code under any
license other than the GPL is not in compliance with the conditions set
forth in the GPL for the creation and distribution of derived works.  As
such, the distribution is unauthorized, and therefore copyright
infringement.

> It's very strange, and I could see the argument that it makes that
> piece of code non-free,

I don't know whether it's non-Free, but that's besides the point.

> but it is probably something that we could try to address with
> Broadcom and the owners of the code space, (specifically, Yaniv Rosner
> <yanivr at broadcom.com>). Have you reached out to him about your
> concerns?

Nope.

> See how useful specific details are? :/

Not really.  All I see is how little of what I wrote in this thread you
actually paid attention to before issuing your opinions :-(

The specific details were in the first post.  grep is not that hard to
use.  Heck, even a web search for the licensing terms I quoted would
have found all the specific details that, honestly, I was baffled you
weren't aware of.

So much for my trying to anonimize the guilty to avoid undesirable
reaction.  Thanks (not) for pretty much forcing me to change that, just
to feed your...  What is it?  Pride?  Laziness?  Distrust? :-(

-- 
Alexandre Oliva, freedom fighter    http://FSFLA.org/~lxoliva/
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -- Gandhi
Be Free! -- http://FSFLA.org/   FSF Latin America board member
Free Software Evangelist      Red Hat Brazil Compiler Engineer