Why doesn't VIZIO just comply?

Posted Jan 9, 2026 5:59 UTC (Fri) by felixfix (subscriber, #242)
In reply to: Why doesn't VIZIO just comply? by IanKelling
Parent article: SFC v. VIZIO: who can enforce the GPL?

This sounds likely. I have worked at many companies where resurrecting sources from even a year earlier would have been impossible. It might have been possible to get close by trial and error, but when you consider that the compiler and ancillary sources and libraries may also have changed, it sounds like the kind of nightmare requests I dreaded, partly for having to explain to managerial nitwits what all the problems were.

Why doesn't VIZIO just comply?

Posted Jan 11, 2026 9:22 UTC (Sun) by cpitrat (subscriber, #116459) [Link] (2 responses)

No, this sounds unlikely. The article explicitly says that the SFC continued to purchase new hardware to see if the situation evolved. I think they would have been happy with a "we don't manage to provide sources for the 2022 appliance but here are the complete sources for the 2025 one".

Why doesn't VIZIO just comply?

Posted Jan 14, 2026 20:12 UTC (Wed) by IanKelling (subscriber, #89418) [Link] (1 responses)

> I think they would have been happy with a "we don't manage to provide sources for the 2022 appliance but here are the complete sources for the 2025 one".

They, as in, SFC? You are mistaken.

Why doesn't VIZIO just comply?

Posted Jan 14, 2026 20:36 UTC (Wed) by felixfix (subscriber, #242) [Link]

Not necessarily. Apologies, sincere mea culpas, and concrete steps to prevent further missteps go a long way towards defusing anger. Courts have been known to take that into account. And in a practical sense, accepting such steps encourages more cooperation in future cases, while being a shrill absolutist wins no favors and only encourages desperate and vindictive resistance from future transgressors.

One need only look at the difference in combat zones or current ICE ventures to see it play out in real life.