Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1762706AbXFSB0R (ORCPT ); Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:26:17 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1757341AbXFSB0H (ORCPT ); Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:26:07 -0400 Received: from DELFT.AURA.CS.CMU.EDU ([128.2.206.88]:38715 "EHLO delft.aura.cs.cmu.edu" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1757222AbXFSB0F (ORCPT ); Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:26:05 -0400 Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:25:17 -0400 To: Alexandre Oliva Cc: Linus Torvalds , Al Viro , Bernd Schmidt , Alan Cox , Ingo Molnar , Daniel Hazelton , Greg KH , debian developer , david@lang.hm, Tarkan Erimer , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Andrew Morton Subject: Re: Dual-Licensing Linux Kernel with GPL V2 and GPL V3 Message-ID: <20070619012517.GL14788@delft.aura.cs.cmu.edu> Mail-Followup-To: Alexandre Oliva , Linus Torvalds , Al Viro , Bernd Schmidt , Alan Cox , Ingo Molnar , Daniel Hazelton , Greg KH , debian developer , david@lang.hm, Tarkan Erimer , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Andrew Morton References: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.13 (2006-08-11) From: Jan Harkes Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1898 Lines: 39 On Mon, Jun 18, 2007 at 08:31:30PM -0300, Alexandre Oliva wrote: > On Jun 18, 2007, Linus Torvalds wrote: > > In the GPLv3 world, we have already discussed in this thread how you can > > follow the GPLv3 by making the TECHNICALLY INFERIOR choice of using a ROM > > instead of using a flash device. > > Yes. This is one option that doesn't bring any benefits to anyone. > It maintains the status quo for users and the community, but it loses > the ability for the vendor to upgrade, fix or otherwise control the > users. Bad for the vendor. Not really, Tivo could simply sell you a box without any installed software. The actual software is mailed to you on a credit card sized ROM when you activate service. When they want to (or need to) update the software they send out a new ROM card, maybe yearly as part of the service subscription renewal. The box could even be sold by third party vendors, I think they may even have started off that way, my old Series 1 had a big Philips logo on it. So now we make sure that this hardware refuses to boot any unsigned code, but it wasn't shipped containing GPLv3 software, so it's license terms simply does not apply. The software is shipped on a ROM card which can no longer be modified by the manufacturer or any third party, so it would seem to comply with the GPLv3. I can even imagine that the hardware is really general purpose but the ROM is encrypted so that only the BIOS/bootloader can unlock it. So the GPLv3 seems to fall short on actually preventing tivoization. It just requires an extra layer of indirection, ship hardware seperately from software. Jan - 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/