DOV kernel patch question (copyright, etc)
Hello,
I downloaded a kernel "patch"[1] for DOV[2] support in Linux from
<URL:http://www.traverse.com.au/Australia/html/linux.html>, and it
doesn't include any copyright-right notices (well... not that I can
find at least). For the purpose of packaging it for Debian, am I
allowed to assume it is GPL, because Linux is GPL?
These files appear to come from the official isdn4linux CVS repository
(now being an old version; I am not sure why/if this is required;
perhaps for hardware support?)
+ very simple changes for DOV.
+ other changes that I am not sure what they are for.
If this is not sufficient (with respect to copyright), what is the
minimum required from the authors to make it OK to package in Debian?
Should I even consider packaging it for Debian?
For now, I have generated three patches/packages:
1. kernel-patch-2.4-isdn: isdn4linux from CVS using -D"2001-06-12
22:00 GMT". This patch varies considerably depending on kernel
version. This is the most complicated patch, and affects lots of
files. I am not sure why it is required, but don't like to remove it
in case it breaks stuff.
2. kernel-patch-2.4-isdn2. other (small) changes that were included by
Traverse. Depends on kernel-patch-2.4-isdn. This affects a number of
files under drivers/isdn/hisax. I am not sure why it is required, but
don't like to remove it in case it breaks stuff.
3. kernel-patch-2.4-dov. DOV changes. Depends on
kernel-patch-2.4-isdn, because they both change the same part of the
same file. Should (IMHO) be easy to manually redo so that it can patch
without kernel-patch-2.4-isdn. This patch is simple, easy to
understand, and only affects one file: isdn_net.c
The sum of all of these patches adds up to what you down-load from the
above URL. Would be nice if I found out that kernel-patch-2.4-isdn and
kernel-patch-2.4-isdn2 aren't required, and I only needed
kernel-patch-2.4-dov. When I next get time, I may try this and see
what happens.
(what package names should I give these? At the moment I have
kernel-patch-2.4-isdn, kernel-patch-2.4-isdn2 and kernel-patch-2.4-dov
respectively).
Any comments/suggestions to deal with this mess appreciated! Am I
going about this the right way? Anyone willing to help?
Anyone able to make sense of my rambling and raving?
Thanks in advance!
Notes:
[1] actually it is not distributed as a patch file, but as a tar.gz
file with a few diff files, complete .c files, and .h files[2], and a
script to install the files in the kernel. Not something I really
like, because it means a kernel with newer files will get downgraded
to use the older files.
[2] from the description of my current DOV package:
Package: kernel-patch-2.4-dov
Status: install ok installed
Priority: extra
Section: devel
Installed-Size: 162
Maintainer: Brian May <bam@snoopy.apana.org.au>
Version: 2001.06.22-1
Depends: patch
Suggests: kernel-source-2.4, kernel-package
Description: dov kernel patch - Data over Voice
DOV is a hack that allows making data ISDN calls that appear to be standand
voice calls to the ISDN provider. This allows making significantly cheaper
calls in some countries. This patch makes some other changes which I fail
to understand as yet.
[3] the fact that the included .c and .h files completely replace (and
not patch) the kernel files makes me a bit nervous... Creating a
proper patch file is easy though, and my Debian package which I am
experimenting with includes this patch.
--
Brian May <bam@debian.org>
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