2006-02-17 (金) の 01:57 -0800 に Michael A. Peters さんは書きました: > Having a discussion on the GPL - and the broadcom driver in Linksys > routers came up. > > I'm taking the position that since it is a kernel module, it modifies > the kernel when the kernel loads it - and thus, it is no different than > if they were shipping a static kernel with the module compiled in, and > thus they (Linksys) are in violation of the GPL because they are > shipping a modified GPL product (the kernel) without releasing the > source to their modifications. > > Other arguments are that the driver uses the kernel and is not a > modification to the kernel. But I don't see how it could be that way, I > see it as adding functionality to the Linux kernel (the ability to talk > to the broadcom chipset) and as such, they are shipping a modified > kernel without also shipping the source. > > Any GPL license gurus have comment? > > The implications of my argument are bigger than Linksys - anyone who > ships a non GPL compatible driver _with_ the Linux kernel would be in > violation of the GPL - including distributions that ship with the nvidia > drivers. It wouldn't make the the modules themselves non distributable, > just that they are non distributable with the kernel. > > I'm not positive my interpretation of the GPL is correct though, so I'd > like comments from people who know it better than I do. Less a question of what the GPL says and more a question of how the authors of the kernel intend it, from what I understand. It's in a gray area, and Stallman would probably agree with you, but is Stallman one of the copyright owners of the kernel?
