Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1752591AbXFNJTO (ORCPT ); Thu, 14 Jun 2007 05:19:14 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1751013AbXFNJTA (ORCPT ); Thu, 14 Jun 2007 05:19:00 -0400 Received: from mail.gmx.net ([213.165.64.20]:49997 "HELO mail.gmx.net" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with SMTP id S1750932AbXFNJS7 (ORCPT ); Thu, 14 Jun 2007 05:18:59 -0400 X-Authenticated: #153925 X-Provags-ID: V01U2FsdGVkX19Mq2YFlIxM33lqB9Vcnc0HQkaR6O1OmMuPZDsmMO +Ji9ws07jRqR0w From: Bernd Paysan To: Paul Mundt Subject: Re: Dual-Licensing Linux Kernel with GPL V2 and GPL V3 Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 11:18:53 +0200 User-Agent: KMail/1.9.5 Cc: Alexandre Oliva , Daniel Hazelton , Linus Torvalds , Lennart Sorensen , Greg KH , debian developer , "david@lang.hm" , Tarkan Erimer , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Andrew Morton , mingo@elte.hu References: <20070614073232.GB22543@linux-sh.org> In-Reply-To: <20070614073232.GB22543@linux-sh.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; boundary="nextPart13772364.Nr1BCSDoFa"; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; micalg=pgp-sha1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <200706141118.55175.bernd.paysan@gmx.de> X-Y-GMX-Trusted: 0 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 3320 Lines: 81 --nextPart13772364.Nr1BCSDoFa Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline On Thursday 14 June 2007 09:32, Paul Mundt wrote: > This is perhaps the part that's the most interesting. For the very small > number of people that _do_ want to change these things (usually at the > expense of a voided warranty, in the consumer device case), there's > always a way to make these changes, even if you must resort to hardware > hacking. Trying to mandate this sort of functionality in the license > might make it easier for a few people to get their code loaded, but the > vast majority of users have zero interest in anything like this. I don't feel this is a very conclusive argument. How many computer users do want to change their OS? I mean not only want to= =20 change the OS in the sense of "apply patches released by Microsoft", but on= =20 their own? Many typical computer users ask for help to "fix their computer"= =20 when turning it off and on again already "fixes it". They would never ever= =20 change the source code of their OS even if they technically could do it -=20 they are not programmers. However, if there is the technical possibility to change the firmware of an= =20 appliance, somebody does it, and often mere users upload these changes to=20 their own device (like the OpenWRT stuff). Let me give one example: My parents own a DVB-T DVR. It was a cheap one, an= d=20 it was cheap because the software is lackluster. Unfortunately it isn't=20 free. Many users of this device complain to the manufacturer about the=20 stability and quality of the software, but with no avail - there haven't=20 been any updates in the last two years. I suppose I would be able to fix=20 the problem, most other users probably wouldn't (and my parents neither).=20 But if I did fix the problem, and provided them with an updated firmware,=20 they would install it on their device. That's the "help your neighbour" right in the GNU manifesto. It's as=20 important as the "help yourself" right, maybe even more. It was the=20 original motivation of RMS to make free software - the frustration of not=20 being able to help his neighbours. He had an NDA to help himself. What people want is software that works. If the firmware of your microwave= =20 or DVR works, you don't care so much if it is free or not. You only care if= =20 it doesn't work, and you feel the urge to fix it (and turning it off and on= =20 again doesn't fix it). That's why people complain loud about ATI drivers=20 not being open, and don't care that much about the Nvidia driver, which is= =20 just as closed, but works. =2D-=20 Bernd Paysan "If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself" http://www.jwdt.com/~paysan/ --nextPart13772364.Nr1BCSDoFa Content-Type: application/pgp-signature -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQBGcQf/i4ILt2cAfDARAjXbAJ4khUlLu4GhR6tcRPHfRzw6Y0FB+QCgryBJ wQEzyxk8kXt5nV6uzlOrmRc= =2ml8 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --nextPart13772364.Nr1BCSDoFa-- - 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/