Marcel Mourguiart wrote:
Is clear that GPL is protected by law in Germany and USA, is clear too ( for me at least ) that you can't mix or link non-free software with GPL code ( with lgpl you can ).
What i think is not clear is the server=distribution, for example when kororaa receive a letter from fsf, they ask to kororaa specifically remove the nvidia and ati driver _from the live cd_, wich they do. BUT they never have ask to remove nvidia / ati drivers from gentoo servers ( kororaa depository ), not a single letter, just nothing.
Seems to be an oversight.
Debian project have a big non-free section in the server, i have never see a letter from fsf asking to remove it because they are braking the GPL.
As long as the non-free software doesn't include GPL code, there is no problem.
Almost every big distro ( including suse ) have some non-free kernel modules in the server, i have never see fsf asking to remove those files.
Since SUSE Linux 10.1 this problem is fixed. I couldn't find any non-free kernel modules for SUSE Linux 10.1 or later on any of the SUSE servers. If you can find such modules, this would be a bug.
Ok, they have time/money to make a sue, but they have not the time to write a letter ??
you can read the kororaa issue here: http://kororaa.org/index.php?entry=entry060521-200059
I know about that opinion piece. Rest assured that it is not possible to compile a Linux kernel module without including headers (and code) from the Linux kernel sources. That alone means that you cannot distribute binary only kernel modules. However, if you do so AND if you can prove that some of your code are not a derived work of the Linux kernel, a court may decide you don't have to opensource all of your code. However, that won't help you much if you're not allowed to distribute the modules. Regards, Carl-Daniel --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org