linux-kernel - Re: Re-enabling non-GPL driver access to disk partition information

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Message-ID: <sjmockc3oq8.fsf@pgpdev.ihtfp.org>
Date:	Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:38:55 -0500
From:	Derek Atkins <warlord@....EDU>
To:	Rik van Riel <riel@...hat.com>, Alan Cox <alan@...rguk.ukuu.org.uk>
Cc:	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, Tejun Heo <tj@...nel.org>
Subject: Re: Re-enabling non-GPL driver access to disk partition information

Hi,

Rik van Riel <riel@...hat.com> writes:

> RCU is patented, with permission for GPL code to use the algorithm.
>
> Exposing RCU bits to non-GPL modules would be rather pointless, since
> those don't have permission (from IBM, the RCU patent holder) to use
> RCU, anyway.

I'm neither asking for or suggesting non-GPL access to RCU.  Rather I'm
asking for non-GPL access to genhd partition information.  In particular
I'm looking for:

- # of actual partitions (which I used to obtain by iterating the table
  and counting -- yes, I know, gross)
- for each partition:
  * partition start sector
  * partition size

Alan Cox <alan@...rguk.ukuu.org.uk> writes:

>> get information about existing partitions.  All those interfaces are now
>> GPL-Only,
>
> The kernel is GPL licensed. Please don't assume an EXPORT_SYMBOL() means
> the GPL does not apply or that this magically indicates it isn't a
> derivative work.

I'm not making that assumption, and the lawyers involved have made that
very very clear.  (I've spent more time in meetings with lawyers in the
past month than I have working on code).  However, that's why I'm just
asking for EXPORT_SYMBOL() instead of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(), because I'm
not sure I can license my module under the GPL (although it can be
released under other licenses, but that doesn't give me access to
GPL-Only symbols).

I'd prefer to be able to access the partition objects directly as I had
been doing for a couple years.  However I do have other alternatives if
this patch (or something like it) wont be accepted.

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord@....EDU                        PGP key available
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