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Proprietary loadable kernel modulesProprietary loadable kernel modulesPosted Mar 24, 2011 14:04 UTC (Thu) by etienne (subscriber, #25256)In reply to: Proprietary loadable kernel modules by vonbrand Parent article: Has Bionic stepped over the GPL line?
The intent of the kernel hackers is a bit like the intent of GCC developers when they say that the resulting executable is not a derived work of GCC, or the intent of word processors developers when they say the final document is fully owned by the author of said document.
If the law disagree that may have very high consequences.
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Proprietary loadable kernel modules Posted Mar 24, 2011 19:53 UTC (Thu) by vonbrand (subscriber, #4458) [Link] OK, perhaps I misspoke. What I meant is that the kernel gang considers stuff using userland interfaces OK under whatever licence you fancy (not in the sense that such code is "not derivative", but that that such use is allowed), while using kernel-internal interfaces (specially ones marked GPL-only) is strictly GPL. It might be that the law says that both uses create derivatives, in which case you are being given an explicit permission for userland while in-kernel use is strictly GPL-only because it is a derivative; or it might say neither does, in which case the whole discussion is moot.
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