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Message-ID: <871wgaybs5.fsf@graviton.dyn.troilus.org>
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:02:18 -0400
From: Michael Poole <mdpoole@...ilus.org>
To: Ingo Molnar <mingo@...e.hu>
Cc: Alexandre Oliva <aoliva@...hat.com>,
Daniel Hazelton <dhazelton@...er.net>,
Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>,
Lennart Sorensen <lsorense@...lub.uwaterloo.ca>,
Greg KH <greg@...ah.com>,
debian developer <debiandev@...il.com>,
"david\@lang.hm" <david@...g.hm>,
Tarkan Erimer <tarkan@...one.net.tr>,
linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>
Subject: Re: Dual-Licensing Linux Kernel with GPL V2 and GPL V3
Ingo Molnar writes:
> * Alexandre Oliva <aoliva@...hat.com> wrote:
>
>> On Jun 15, 2007, Ingo Molnar <mingo@...e.hu> wrote:
>>
>> > it is a false statement on your part that the executable "does not
>> > function properly" if it lacks that part. Try it: take out the harddisk
>> > from the Tivo (it's a bog standard IDE harddisk), put into a nice Linux
>> > PC, mount it, modify a bit in the kernel image header and it will likely
>> > still boot just fine on that PC.
>>
>> Ok, try this: take the disk out, remove/replace/modify the signature,
>> put the disk back in, and tell me what it is that fail to run.
>
> you mean back into the Tivo? That is not support for what you claimed.
> You claimed the "executable does not function properly" if it lacks that
> part (and you did not qualify your statement with anything). That was a
> false statement, because it still works fine in just about any
> bog-standard PC. A true statement would be: "the modified executable
> does not function properly _in the Tivo_". It still works fine on a
> general purpose PC.
I claimed that. Unless I missed something, Alexandre did not.
Ability to run on a standard PC is irrelevant. Tivo distributes the
executable for the specific purpose of running on their hardware.
Having the signature accepted by the hardware is a critical aspect of
the executable. That purpose and function are what make the signature
part of the work based on Linux.
Courts consider purpose and intent when analyzing actions; except when
one has bought the best available legal system, they would not follow
your logic. (The role the signature plays in controlling access to a
copyrighted work, per DMCA, might also separately identify it as part
of the work based on Linux.)
If I wished to distribute a kernel with extended functionality from a
C file but not the C source files, under your logic I need not give
them out -- a user could modify the binary and run it on a general
purpose PC. Right? At most it would take clever linker tricks to
make the change small enough.
As to the suggestion that vendors would use another kernel: I would
not mind. A huge fraction of the interesting and useful work in open
source kernels happens in Linux (first or only). Using any third
party software is a trade-off of what you get versus what you give up.
Michael Poole
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