Re: DRAFT for a GR proposal concerning the Sarge release
On Tue, Apr 27, 2004 at 11:37:46PM -0700, Don Armstrong wrote:
> On Wed, 28 Apr 2004, Hamish Moffatt wrote:
> > Those sourceless embedded codes aren't being linked against the
> > kernel in any way at all.
>
> The fact that they are included in the kernel itself lends credence to
> the theory that they form a derivative work containing other GPLed
> works, and therefore must comply with the GPL. [Note that the relevant
> question is whether it is a derivative work, not if it is linked with
> the kernel.]
Well, they are included in the kernel source, granted. But personally, I
would not consider firmware a 'derivative work' of the kernel, as it is
usually (correct me if I'm wrong) developed completely independent from
the driver and only included in the source for convenience for the
hardware vendor (i.e. saving a bit of money for the ROM and being more
flexible).
Of course, I haven't followed the whole firmwar discussion in full
detail (I've a good quantity of the posts though), but I wonder whether
we should ask a lawyer about this.
Michael
--
Michael Banck
Debian Developer
mbanck@debian.org
http://www.advogato.org/person/mbanck/diary.html
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