Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S932122AbWBBQUZ (ORCPT ); Thu, 2 Feb 2006 11:20:25 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S932120AbWBBQUY (ORCPT ); Thu, 2 Feb 2006 11:20:24 -0500 Received: from smtp.osdl.org ([65.172.181.4]:37537 "EHLO smtp.osdl.org") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S932122AbWBBQUW (ORCPT ); Thu, 2 Feb 2006 11:20:22 -0500 Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 08:19:44 -0800 (PST) From: Linus Torvalds To: Alan Cox cc: Pierre Ossman , Karim Yaghmour , Filip Brcic , Glauber de Oliveira Costa , Thomas Horsten , linux-kernel Subject: Re: GPL V3 and Linux - Dead Copyright Holders In-Reply-To: <1138891081.9861.4.camel@localhost.localdomain> Message-ID: References: <43DE57C4.5010707@opersys.com> <5d6222a80601301143q3b527effq526482837e04ee5a@mail.gmail.com> <200601302301.04582.brcha@users.sourceforge.net> <43E0E282.1000908@opersys.com> <43E1C55A.7090801@drzeus.cx> <1138891081.9861.4.camel@localhost.localdomain> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1650 Lines: 43 On Thu, 2 Feb 2006, Alan Cox wrote: > On Iau, 2006-02-02 at 01:00 -0800, Linus Torvalds wrote: > > Sure, DRM may mean that you can not _install_ or _run_ your changes on > > somebody elses hardware. > > Last time I checked the Xbox was owned by the person who bought it. Xbox > Linux hits this problem today. So it may affect "your hardware" too > unless you make hardware, which is an unusual and privileged position. Ok, now replace "hardware" by "software", and replace DRM by "proprietary", and what's the difference? The fact is, if you buy proprietary software, you cannot make it do everything you want, regardless of of whether you "own" it or not. The creator of the software may have designed it so that it only does certain things. Tough. The solution: use open source software. The same holds true for hardware. If you buy proprietary hardware, you cannot make it do everything you want, whether you "own" it or not. The manufacturer of the hardware may have designed it so that it only does certain things. Tough. The solution: use open hardware. The solution is NOT to create a software license that is obviously not usable. And the GPLv3 really _is_ obviously not usable for the kernel, because it creates insane situations whether the hardware is open or closed. In other words, the problem you state is a problem. But it has nothing to do with the GPLv3. Linus - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/