From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S263692AbTEFNa6 (ORCPT ); Tue, 6 May 2003 09:30:58 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S263709AbTEFNa6 (ORCPT ); Tue, 6 May 2003 09:30:58 -0400 Received: from pc2-cwma1-4-cust86.swan.cable.ntl.com ([213.105.254.86]:5760 "EHLO lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S263692AbTEFNaz (ORCPT ); Tue, 6 May 2003 09:30:55 -0400 Subject: Re: Binary firmware in the kernel - licensing issues. From: Alan Cox To: Simon Kelley Cc: Linux Kernel Mailing List In-Reply-To: <3EB7B879.4040405@thekelleys.org.uk> References: <3EB79ECE.4010709@thekelleys.org.uk> <1052219735.28796.28.camel@dhcp22.swansea.linux.org.uk> <3EB7B879.4040405@thekelleys.org.uk> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Organization: Message-Id: <1052225092.1201.2.camel@dhcp22.swansea.linux.org.uk> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Ximian Evolution 1.2.2 (1.2.2-5) Date: 06 May 2003 13:44:53 +0100 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Maw, 2003-05-06 at 14:28, Simon Kelley wrote: > My current plan is to make separate modules for each firmware image so > that people only need to compile in/load the one they need. > > > > > (Debian as policy will rip the firmware out anyway regardless of what > > Linus does btw) > > Without exception? Time to hit debian-legal, methinks. Unless the firmware itself includes full source code under the GPL yes. There are rumblings in other places about doing the same because the licensing issues are not clear otherwise. > > The hotplug interface can be used to handle this. > > > > Bah, more configuration. I want it to just _work_. For the setup its a case of the existing hotplug scripts being updated which isnt hard and for 2.5 this is currently being kicked around for the general cases. > So, back to the question: what license for a binary firmware blob is > GPL-compatible? Try a lawyer, a good one with lots of experience in intellectual property law in the US and EU. linux-kernel only thinks its qualified as a lawyer 8) Alan