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On the value of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPLOn the value of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPLPosted Oct 6, 2005 8:04 UTC (Thu) by mingo (subscriber, #31122)In reply to: On the value of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL by lacostej Parent article: On the value of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL
if someone modifies those symbol exports (even if not using the binary-only module), with the intent to enable the use of binary-only modules by third parties, they are potentially involved in contributory copyright infringement.
so the rule here too is "if you want to do that, talk to your lawyer".
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On the value of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL Posted Oct 6, 2005 15:46 UTC (Thu) by zlynx (subscriber, #2285) [Link] If the vendor does it, it's probably some sort of infringement. However, if they just keep publishing their module with a note "Works with Linux Kernel 2.6.11 and earlier.", they're fine. If someone _else_ creates a kernel patch to allow that module to run on 2.6.17, the vendor isn't responsible, and I don't really see how you could convince a court that a 3rd party unrelated to the vendor is infringing anything by modifying code when that 3rd party has a license granting him an explicit right to modify the code.
On the value of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL Posted Oct 6, 2005 15:50 UTC (Thu) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625) [Link] Talk to your lawyer -- and build your own software testing and distribution infrastructure, and hire full-time testers because you don't know when the next kernel, or a distribution's kernel, is going to break your driver, and basically do the whole driver as a full-blown independent proprietary software product -- only it's a "product" that will make you no money.
Oh, and just in case the interfaces you're depending on ever change, better keep that lawyer on retainer.
About 20% of people who use Linux in business don't consider the driver license when buying hardware.
About 20% will not use a proprietary driver on Linux, period.
About 60% take the license of the driver into account in some way -- won't buy hardware if there's competing hardware with a GPL driver, won't use a proprietary driver unless their distribution commits to supporting it, or just use licensing as one of several factors when considering hardware.
On the value of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL Posted Oct 14, 2005 4:29 UTC (Fri) by turpie (guest, #5219) [Link] "Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14% of people know that." - Homer Simpson.
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