For those wondering how Ubuntu does it. [LWN.net]

For those wondering how Ubuntu does it.

Posted May 17, 2006 11:34 UTC (Wed) by sladen (subscriber, #27402)
In reply to: GPL concerns halt Kororaa live CD (NewsForge) by grouch
Parent article: GPL concerns halt Kororaa live CD (NewsForge)

It is distribution of the combined ["linked"] work which is presenting the issue. For anyone wondering, Ubuntu side-steps this issue (after having received a similar treatened shake-down) with the following; in:

  /etc/init.d/linux-restricted-modules-common

Which is executed on bootup, The keys bits of which are:

  log_begin_msg "Preparing restricted drivers..."
  mount -t tmpfs -o mode=0755 tmpfs /lib/modules/"$KVER"/volatile/
  ...
  ld_static -d -r -o /lib/modules/"$KVER"/volatile/$module.ko $module/*

Hence ensuring that the linked result only ever exists in a tmpfs location—stored in volatile RAM—which is then lost at shutdown. As a result the combined result is never distributed; and neither can the components be directly used with each other.

(Log in to post comments)