B.Weber@warwick.ac.uk wrote:
AFAIK nvidia's driver doesn't violate the GPL because they use a GPLed shim, this doesn't mean it's morally right though.
With that reasoning, every software license would be meaningless. The Linux kernel is GPLed. "Shim" modules that link into it automatically have to be GPLed as well. So the kernel and the shim module together form a GPLed work. How exactly are you going to tell a court that the GPL suddenly didn't apply anymore? Speaking as a private individual (not for any employer) and kernel developer, I hope somebody has the time and money to sue certain GPL violators. Suing works well for userspace programs and embedded devices (see http://gpl-violations.org/ for details), so why not for certain kernel modules, too? I admit that for a few persons the eradication of closed source kernel modules may be somewhat unpleasant, but in the longer term it is the only feasible way. The unavailability of said modules will make people more willing to test reverse engineered drivers, leading to greater driver quality overall. Regards, Carl-Daniel --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org