From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S262164AbTLEE6F (ORCPT ); Thu, 4 Dec 2003 23:58:05 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S262228AbTLEE6F (ORCPT ); Thu, 4 Dec 2003 23:58:05 -0500 Received: from codepoet.org ([166.70.99.138]:32645 "EHLO codepoet.org") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S262164AbTLEE6C (ORCPT ); Thu, 4 Dec 2003 23:58:02 -0500 Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 21:58:04 -0700 From: Erik Andersen To: David Schwartz Cc: Paul Adams , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: Linux GPL and binary module exception clause? Message-ID: <20031205045803.GA12038@codepoet.org> Reply-To: andersen@codepoet.org Mail-Followup-To: Erik Andersen , David Schwartz , Paul Adams , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org References: <20031205004653.GA7385@codepoet.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: X-Operating-System: Linux 2.4.19-rmk7, Rebel-NetWinder(Intel StrongARM 110 rev 3), 185.95 BogoMips X-No-Junk-Mail: I do not want to get *any* junk mail. User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.4i Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Thu Dec 04, 2003 at 05:58:38PM -0800, David Schwartz wrote: > There you go, *ONCE* *LOADED* it becomes an integral part. So > it's the *use* of it that makes it integral. Disitribution is > prior to use. Steven Spielberg doesn't care what you do to his movies in the privacy of your own home. You can use them as a room dividers for your hamsters if you want for all he cares. But if you try modifying his movies, i.e. to remove the sex, nudity, and violence and then distribute them, you will join Clean Flicks in court [1]. Or maybe you feel like making a Harry Potter knockoff. Go ahead and write whatever you want in the privacy of your own home. If you dare to try distributing such a knock off novel, you will shortly find Time-Warner sending a herd of lawyers your direction [2]. Similarly, nobody cares what kernel modules you feel like making and loading in the privacy of your own home. > So long as it must be mixed with the original work (and isn't > already), it's not clear that it's a derived work as it sits. > Again, otherwise any program that used 'malloc' would be a > derived work of any implementation of 'malloc'. The act of compiling a program and linking that program with a library certainly does create a derivitive work of that library. Try linking your program with the 30-day evaluation version of Intel's Math Kernel Library and distributing the result without paying them for a license. Try using Qt in a non-GPL closed source product without paying Trolltech. Try using MS Visual Studio to create and distribute your own competing compiler. Guess how fast you would have herds of lawyers visiting to discuss your opinions of what is and is not a derived work? -Erik [1] http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hilden/20020903.html [2] http://slate.msn.com/id/2084960/ -- Erik B. Andersen http://codepoet-consulting.com/ --This message was written using 73% post-consumer electrons--