Not much point [LWN.net]

Not much point

Posted Oct 2, 2007 13:24 UTC (Tue) by Zoborov (guest, #29327)
In reply to: Not much point by jejb
Parent article: The Linux Driver Project takes off

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary above, except as expressly provided below, LF acknowledges and agrees that the Contributors Confidential Information is being provided for reference only, and that no Open Source Software Product shall contain any of the Contributors Confidential Information except to the extent required in order to effect the Purposes, for example, where components of the Contributors Confidential Information must be incorporated into the source code of an Open Source Software Product in order for the Open Source Software Product to function properly.

except to the extent required in order ... for the ... Product to function properly: nothing in there, certainly nothing explicit, permitting rigorous device documentation within the actual source code.

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Not much point

Posted Oct 3, 2007 0:26 UTC (Wed) by jejb (subscriber, #6654) [Link]

That's almost exactly what "except to the extent required in order to effect the Purposes" means in legal terms.

Not much point

Posted Oct 3, 2007 11:40 UTC (Wed) by Zoborov (guest, #29327) [Link]

If the "Confidential Information" may be disclosed only to the extent that it effects the "Purposes", and if the exemplary instance of these "Purposes" is a functional driver, then no, since there's no technical need on the developer's part to provide explicit device documentation. After all, perfectly functional device drivers can have hopelessly obfuscated source code.

I'm not a Veterinarian

Posted Oct 4, 2007 2:05 UTC (Thu) by filker0 (guest, #31278) [Link]

But I do believe that my wife (who is) would concur - This horse is dead. Please don't make us call
the SPCDA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Dead Animals).

The Linux Driver Project will go on whether you're happy about it or not. If I had the time, I'd
volunteer to write a driver or two.

I'm not a Veterinarian

Posted Oct 5, 2007 15:15 UTC (Fri) by Zoborov (guest, #29327) [Link]

The Linux Driver Project will go on whether you're happy about it or not.

The fact/value distinction in a nutshell, there.