Why doesn't VIZIO just comply?

Posted Jan 9, 2026 17:52 UTC (Fri) by tbird20d (subscriber, #1901)
In reply to: Why doesn't VIZIO just comply? by marcH
Parent article: SFC v. VIZIO: who can enforce the GPL?

I would like to see the list of sources that the SFC considers missing or incomplete. My guess is that one sticking point for the SFC has been the program used to install signed firmware image onto the TV. Now that the judge has ruled that reinstallation is not a requirement of the GPL, it may be that such an installation program is out-of-scope. That doesn't mean that all installation scripts are out-of-scope, but that one might be, for a few different reasons.

If there's more missing than that, it would be interesting to get the details.

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Why doesn't VIZIO just comply?

Posted Jan 11, 2026 10:26 UTC (Sun) by ssmith32 (subscriber, #72404) [Link] (2 responses)

As far as the trial goes, hat seems unlikely - at least per the article, the code vizio provided didn't _compile_ so installation isn't the sticking point (yet). But as a general idea, I agree.

My understanding was what the judge ruled out was not reinstallation per se, but rather that reinstallation must result in a working TV.

The more likely reason for vizio not providing the source is far simpler - if the SFC can get a complete set of source code, as defined by the GPL, they know that someone will eventually figure out how to make a working reinstall.

And since it is likely that vizio, as with many TV companies, particularly ones that don't compete on quality, see advertising as the next thing to "unlock growth", having users able to turn their smart TV into a dumb one, or worse, a smart one sans advertising, the ability to reinstall represents an strategic business threat.

Unfortunately, in the US judicial system, the true matter being debated can only be determined by the big hole that no one is talking about.

The GPL was written to, fundamentally, ensure end users retained control of their hardware. Unfortunately, in this scenario, this runs smack up against the business model most TV companies are pursuing nowadays: advertising.

Why doesn't VIZIO just comply?

Posted Jan 11, 2026 10:37 UTC (Sun) by ssmith32 (subscriber, #72404) [Link]

My bad, just catching up on LWN, this was already covered, and covered far, far better, in a previous article - a big thanks to LWN for these last two wonderfully written and nuanced articles on the subject.

Why doesn't VIZIO just comply?

Posted Jan 12, 2026 2:31 UTC (Mon) by jepsis (subscriber, #130218) [Link]

Doing advertising in the Linux kernel??

Why doesn't VIZIO just comply?

Posted Jan 12, 2026 23:51 UTC (Mon) by ossguy (subscriber, #82918) [Link] (1 responses)

Sure, there is lots missing beyond any of that. Vizio has at least half a dozen kernel modules whose modinfo shows "license: GPL" that they haven't provided any source code for, as an example, among many other binaries where source code is missing.

Why doesn't VIZIO just comply?

Posted Jan 15, 2026 1:29 UTC (Thu) by ocrete (subscriber, #107180) [Link]

Is there somewhere a list of what those modules are?

I'm curious to see what SoCs they're using.