Re: Open letter to Linux kernel developers (was Re: Binary Drivers)

From: Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu
To: Trent Waddington <trent.waddington@gmail.com>
Cc: Bernd Petrovitsch <bernd@firmix.at>,
	Erik Mouw <erik@harddisk-recovery.com>,
	Giuseppe Bilotta <bilotta78@hotpop.com>,
	linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Open letter to Linux kernel developers (was Re: Binary Drivers)
Date: Mon, 01 Jan 2007 23:04:49 -0500	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <200701020404.l0244n3b024582@turing-police.cc.vt.edu> (raw)
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sun, 31 Dec 2006 23:03:27 +1000." <3d57814d0612310503r282404afgd9b06ca57f44ab3c@mail.gmail.com>

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On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 23:03:27 +1000, Trent Waddington said:
> Why don't you release source?  To protect the intellectual property.
> Well, duh!  That's why everyone holds back source.  So allow me to
> translate..
> 
> Why don't you release source?  Because we don't believe in freedom, we
> don't "get it" and we don't want you to have it.

There's believing in freedom, and there's wanting to be able to ship code
without getting sued...

The binary blob in question is several megabytes in size.  Now, even
totally *ignoring* who knowingly licensed/stole/whatever IP from who,
that *still* leaves the problem of trying to write several megabytes of
code that doesn't infringe on anybody's IP - particularly some of those
vague submarine patents that should have been killed on "prior art" or
"obviousness" grounds.

So tell me - how *do* you release that much code without worrying about IP
issues?

Remember - somebody *can* "get it" but be unable to actually *deploy*.
I *get* the whole global warming thing - but I'm not in a position to buy
a hybrid car unless somebody else kicks in US$15K or $20K or so.

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