linux-kernel - Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

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Message-ID: <f2b55d220702260217y38f47976ke2ab9dc86a6ea609@mail.gmail.com>
Date:	Mon, 26 Feb 2007 02:17:10 -0800
From:	"Michael K. Edwards" <medwards.linux@...il.com>
To:	"Trent Waddington" <trent.waddington@...il.com>
Cc:	Alan <alan@...rguk.ukuu.org.uk>, "Pavel Machek" <pavel@....cz>,
	davids@...master.com, "v j" <vj.linux@...il.com>,
	"Linux-Kernel@...r. Kernel. Org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	"Neil Brown" <neilb@...e.de>
Subject: Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

On 2/25/07, Trent Waddington <trent.waddington@...il.com> wrote:
> On 2/26/07, Michael K. Edwards <medwards.linux@...il.com> wrote:
> > I know it's fun to blame everything on Redmond, but how about a
> > simpler explanation?
>
> Says the master of conspiracy.

Yes, I rather chuckled at the irony as I wrote that one.  :-)  But
there is a difference.  I've provided you with independent sources for
the basic data -- Nimmer and Corbin and dozens of appellate opinions
for the universal contract nature of copyright licenses, guidestar.org
for Form 990s, links that you can follow a couple of hops to two
actual letters of opinion that Moglen has written suggesting "GPL
circumvention" techniques, facts that you can verify about the
financial dealings surrounding the formation and acquisition of Cygnus
Solutions, the campaign to squeeze OpenSSL out of the GNUniverse, and
the unreproducibility of commercial cross-compilers built around GCC.
You don't have to believe a damn thing I say -- read the law and
follow the money trail for yourself.

If you care to know more about how the racket works, you can do your
own damn homework and see if you reach the same conclusions I did two
years ago.  Subsequent events -- the forced merger of OSDL into the
Linux Foundation, the flowering of the SFLC into the Software Freedom
Conservancy, the sunset of Oracle on Sun and rise of Unbreakable
Linux, the hocus-pocus around "license compatibility" as first Intel
and HP, then Sun, knuckle under, switch to the GPL, and start pressing
IBM and Oracle to do the same, the war of the "patent pledges" -- fit
into the same pattern.  I was disgusted then, and I haven't seen any
reason to become less so.  I don't actually enjoy this sort of
muckraking -- it's dirty work and I have better things to do.

Watch for more posturing about Microsoft/Novell -- funny how the
distro that regularly pays Eben Moglen to give keynote speeches has
been charging by the seat for years, but the distro that does a deal
with the _other_ devil is threatened with being written out of GPL v3.
 Watch for -- but wait, I gave up ranting for Lent.  Watch for
anything you like, keep scanning the horizon for Moby Ballmer and his
secret deals to keep you dual-booting into Windows for your
frag-fests.  When your pet shark in law professor's clothing decides
_your_ arm would be tasty next, don't come crying to me.  This really
is the absolute last I have to say on this topic in a public forum, in
2007 anyhow.
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