Message-ID: <43e72e890801071220r33401a6cg30a0bf4fc391b452@mail.gmail.com> (sfid-20080107_202012_222121_167B0082)
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 15:20:02 -0500
From: "Luis R. Rodriguez" <mcgrof@gmail.com>
To: "Forest Bond" <forest@alittletooquiet.net>
Subject: Re: VT6656 driver source available from VIA
Cc: "John W. Linville" <linville@tuxdriver.com>,
	linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org
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On Jan 7, 2008 1:49 PM, Forest Bond <forest@alittletooquiet.net> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On Wed, Nov 14, 2007 at 12:06:34PM -0500, John W. Linville wrote:
> > On Wed, Nov 14, 2007 at 12:00:51PM -0500, Forest Bond wrote:
> >> On Sun, Nov 04, 2007 at 09:07:31PM -0500, Forest Bond wrote:
> >>> The post is here:
> >>>
> >>> http://forums.viaarena.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=78745
> >>>
> >>> Any noise that can be contributed is welcome and appreciated.  You'll need
> >>> to create an account to post, though.
> >
> >> I also added these.  Perhaps having plenty of content/links regarding this
> >> issue will help to increase visibility:
> >>
> >> http://www.alittletooquiet.net/text/a-license-for-the-via-vt6656-linux-driver/
> >> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-source-2.6.22/+bug/162671
> >
> > Excellent...I appreciate your efforts as an agitator! :-)
>
> At this point I am not anticipating positive results WRT this endeavor, and am
> unable to pursue further assistance from VIA.  Further, I've seen that the
> driver in question likely exhibits some interesting quirks that makes it
> difficult to use.  It is also bit-rotting out of relevance.

This is unfortunate to hear...

> Can the driver be used as a reference for a fresh implementation?  I've not
> written a driver before, but would be open to the possibility.

IANAL but I believe It basically depends on the license the vendor
issued the driver under and its sources under. If no license was used
then I believe the standard copyright license terms should be assumed.
What license was used throughout the driver files?

> What are the legal ramifications of a driver author having access to
> proprietary source code?

Again, I believe it depends on the license/NDA/terms under which the
driver author obtained access to such proprietary source code. The
more details you provide the better.

  Luis