Re: Keyspan Firmware fun
Edmund GRIMLEY EVANS <edmundo@rano.org> writes:
>The binary doesn't violate the GPL. Only distribution of the binary
>violates the GPL.
Please reread the following section of my previous message.
Indirect and contributory copyright infringement are different sections
of title 17 of the United States Code. I understand that this is why
NeXT had to release the source code for the .o's to their objective
C backend (I believe they originally shipped the .o's as separate
files which were then linked to build the compiler, I guess by their
install process).
| You might wonder why am I also concerned about distribution
| of the kernel _sources_. First of all, I believe that there may be a
|contributory infringement problem with machinations (my word) where
|the end result is the delivery of a work whose distribution is
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|forbidden by copyright. In the case of the stock kernel, the build
|process does this for the keyspan.o file. Secondly, I think there may
|be an indirect or contributory infringement issue from distributing
|such kernel sources with the reasonable expectation that many
|recipients will compile and unknowingly illegally copy keyspan.o
|as a result.
Adam J. Richter __ ______________ 4880 Stevens Creek Blvd, Suite 104
adam@yggdrasil.com \ / San Jose, California 95129-1034
+1 408 261-6630 | g g d r a s i l United States of America
fax +1 408 261-6631 "Free Software For The Rest Of Us."
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