On 25/01/2008, Greg KH <gregkh@suse.de> wrote:
Sigh. Nvidia had been writing drivers for its cards for some time when they started supporting linux as well. So clearly, the binary nvidia driver is not a derivation of the linux kernel. They also supply a linux-specific "shim" which provides an interface between the linux kernel and the nvidia binary blob, and they provide the source of that linux specific shim in the download.
Seriously, where's the crime?
Sorry, but providing a "shim" does not protect you from the GPL license of the Linux kernel. The Samba group has proved this many times in the past with lots of precident in going after companies that tried to do this with their code base.
Also the shim is not even GPLed either, from the files: /* _NVRM_COPYRIGHT_BEGIN_ * * Copyright 1999-2001 by NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. All * information contained herein is proprietary and confidential to NVIDIA * Corporation. Any use, reproduction, or disclosure without the written * permission of NVIDIA Corporation is prohibited. * * _NVRM_COPYRIGHT_END_ */ -- Benjamin Weber -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org