Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1755401AbYAUMul (ORCPT ); Mon, 21 Jan 2008 07:50:41 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1750906AbYAUMue (ORCPT ); Mon, 21 Jan 2008 07:50:34 -0500 Received: from ms-smtp-02.nyroc.rr.com ([24.24.2.56]:52884 "EHLO ms-smtp-02.nyroc.rr.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1750823AbYAUMud (ORCPT ); Mon, 21 Jan 2008 07:50:33 -0500 Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 07:49:43 -0500 (EST) From: Steven Rostedt X-X-Sender: rostedt@gandalf.stny.rr.com To: Esben Nielsen cc: Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu, caglar@pardus.org.tr, LKML , RT , Ingo Molnar , Thomas Gleixner , Alan Cox Subject: Re: 2.6.24-rc7-rt2 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: <1200336080.318.8.camel@localhost.localdomain> <200801150237.44029.caglar@pardus.org.tr> <24149.1200455417@turing-police.cc.vt.edu> <31516.1200464589@turing-police.cc.vt.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1995 Lines: 44 On Mon, 21 Jan 2008, Esben Nielsen wrote: > > Please, tell what in the license forbids me to make a global replacement > EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL -> EXPORT_SYMBOL and distribute the result? If you want to distribute that code, the authors of that said code may be able to challenge you in saying that you are enabling a means to circumvent a way around the license, and hold you liable. Remember, all it takes is one country with the laws that will grant this complaint. > > For me, on the other hand, it is against the spirit of free software to > actively make a block for people to do what ever they want with the code > when they are only doing it to themselves. That includes loading non-GPL > software into the kernel. The only thing they are not allowed to do is to > distribute it and in that way "hurt" other people. Honestly, I don't care which export it is. The thing is that I derived that code from someone else. I did not look up the original author of the code to find out which export they would like it to be. I may be able to argue that since it was under a LGPL and not a GPL license, I may very well be able to export it that way. I'm taking the safe way out. By exporting it as EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL, I am safe either way. By exporting it as EXPORT_SYMBOL without first hearing from the original author (and getting that in writing), or hearing it from a lawyer, I may be putting myself at risk. Feel free to creating a version of this code and s/EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL/EXPORT_SYMBOL/ and distribute it. I wont come after you for that, but at least I know those that would, will go after you and not me. Call me a chicken, I don't care, but I'm just not going to put myself nor my company I work for, at risk over this issue. -- Steve -- 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/