linux-kernel - Re: GPL only modules [was Re: [GIT PATCH] more Driver core patches for 2.6.19]

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Message-Id: <200612161209.58498.rjw@sisk.pl>
Date:	Sat, 16 Dec 2006 12:09:57 +0100
From:	"Rafael J. Wysocki" <rjw@...k.pl>
To:	Willy Tarreau <w@....eu>
Cc:	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...l.org>, karderio <karderio@...il.com>,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: GPL only modules [was Re: [GIT PATCH] more Driver core patches for 2.6.19]

On Saturday, 16 December 2006 11:50, Willy Tarreau wrote:
> On Sat, Dec 16, 2006 at 11:28:27AM +0100, Rafael J. Wysocki wrote:
> > On Saturday, 16 December 2006 07:43, Willy Tarreau wrote:
> > > On Fri, Dec 15, 2006 at 06:55:17PM -0800, Linus Torvalds wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > On Sat, 16 Dec 2006, karderio wrote:
> > > > > 
> > > > > As it stands, I believe the licence of the Linux kernel does impose
> > > > > certain restrictions and come with certain obligations
> > > > 
> > > > Absolutely. And they boil down to something very simple:
> > > > 
> > > > 	"Derived works have to be under the same license"
> > > > 
> > > > where the rest is just really fluff.
> > > > 
> > > > But the point is, "derived work" is not what _you_ or _I_ define. It's 
> > > > what copyright law defines.
> > > > 
> > > > And trying to push that definition too far is a total disaster. If you 
> > > > push the definition of derived work to "anything that touches our work", 
> > > > you're going to end up in a very dark and unhappy place. One where the 
> > > > RIAA is your best buddy.
> > > > 
> > > > And the proposed "we make some technical measure whereby we draw our _own_ 
> > > > lines" is exactly that total disaster.
> > > > 
> > > > We don't draw our own lines. We accept that the lines are drawn for us by 
> > > > copyright law, and we actually _hope_ that the lines aren't too sharp and 
> > > > too clearcut. Because sharp edges on copyright is the worst possible 
> > > > situation we could ever be in.
> > > > 
> > > > The reason fair use is so important is exactly that it blunts/dulls the 
> > > > sharp knife that overly strong copyright protection could be.
> > > 
> > > All this is about "fair use", and "fair use" comes from compatibility
> > > between the author's intent and the user's intent. For this exact reason,
> > > I have added a "LICENSE" file [1] in my software (haproxy) stating that I
> > > explicitly permit linking with binary code if the user has no other choice
> > > (eg: protocols specs obtained under NDA), provided that "derived work"
> > > does not steal any GPL code (include files are under LGPL). On the other
> > > hand, all "common protocols" are developped under GPL so that normal users
> > > are the winners, and everyone is strongly encouraged to use the GPL for
> > > their new code to benefit from everyone else's eyes on the code.
> > > 
> > > This clarifies my intent and let developers decide whether *they* are
> > > doing legal things or not.
> > > 
> > > Don't you think it would be a good idea to add such a precision in the
> > > sources ? It could put an end to all those repeated lessons you have to
> > > teach to a lot of people about fair use. Or perhaps you like to put
> > > your teacher hat once a month ? :-)
> > 
> > I think the most important problem with the binary-only drivers is that we
> > can't support their users _at_ _all_, but some of them expect us to support
> > them somehow.
> 
> Agreed this is the most important problem.
> 
> > So, why don't we make an official statement, like something that will appear
> > on the front page of www.kernel.org, that the users of binary-only drivers
> > will never get any support from us?  That would make things crystal clear.
> 
> This would constitute a good starting point. But what I was trying
> to address is the other side of the problem : all the politicial
> discussions on LKML which make the developers waste their time
> always trying to explain the same things to extremist people (you
> see, "we must forbid binary drivers to protect users freedom" and
> "I'm free to run whatever I want"). I don't care at all about what
> those people think and I don't like the way they want to impose
> their vision to others. But above all, but I'm fed up with those
> recurrent subjects on development and bug reporting mailing list,
> they waste everyone's time.

Agreed.

Greetings,
Rafael
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