FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core"
FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core"
The Free Software Foundation Latin America has released a version of the
2.6.36 kernel with offending firmware (or drivers that need that firmware)
stripped out. They also are trying to tap into the ongoing discussion of
"open core" business models. "Sad to say, Linux fits the definition of Free Bait or Open Core. Many
believe that Linux is Free Software or Open Source, but it isn't.
Indeed, the Linux-2.6.36 distribution published by Mr. Torvalds
contains sourceless code under such restrictive licensing terms as
'This material is licensed to you strictly for use in conjunction with
the use of COPS LocalTalk adapters', presented as a list of numbers in
the corresponding driver, and 'This firmware may not be modified and
may only be used with Keyspan hardware' and 'Derived from proprietary
unpublished source code, Copyright Broadcom' in the firmware
subdirectory, just to name a few examples.
"