On the value of EXPORT_SYMBOL

On the value of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL

Posted Oct 8, 2005 11:57 UTC (Sat) by jschrod (subscriber, #1646)
In reply to: On the value of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL by fenrus
Parent article: On the value of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL

you missed the point; this part of the thread isn't about derived works; it's about the "ship together" clause in the gpl which has nothing to do with "derived work" but with "being independent".

Ah, you mean you never reacted on nchip who wrote ``So it boils back to the "is the binary-only module derived from Linux" argument.'' and you never threatened to sue anybody who distributed a binary-only module because it would be ``a closed-and-shut case.''? Well, go forward, follow-up your strong words and sue Novell.

(and anyway linus didn't say binary modules are allowed, he said the derived work part is a case by case basis)

Exactly my words. Go back and read my post: I never wrote that Linus allows binary-only modules. I wrote that his opinion differs from yours in so far as distribution of binary-only modules are not a ``closed-and-shut case'' as you wrote. You just agreed to that and make it sound as if it was your opinion in the first place. Go figure, since that's your style of discussion, I'm out now.

Joachim

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On the value of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL

Posted Oct 8, 2005 12:40 UTC (Sat) by dwmw2 (subscriber, #2063) [Link]

Ah, you mean you never reacted on nchip who wrote ``So it boils back to the "is the binary-only module derived from Linux" argument.''

Fenrus did respond to this. He made the analogy about glue -- highlighting the difference between two items which are each useful in their own right but which happen to be shipped together coincidentally, and two items which are fundamentally interdependent such that each cannot function without the other.

That's basically the difference between a collective work and 'mere aggregation on a volume of a distribution medium', which nchip seemed to have missed. It seems as if nchip was taking 'mere aggregation' to include any kind of combined work, even when the parts are fundamentally interdependent.