You can say it all you want, it doesn't make it true [LWN.net]

You can say it all you want, it doesn't make it true

Posted Jul 26, 2013 14:52 UTC (Fri) by raven667 (guest, #5198)
In reply to: You can say it all you want, it doesn't make it true by Jan_Zerebecki
Parent article: Android 4.3

> the Anti-Tivo clause makes the GPLv3 incompatible with them locking down their mobile hardware.

I think this was handled poorly by the GPLv3 design committee, a public relations failure as much as a technical legal one. ISTM the way to handle anti-TiVoization is to make the lock-down keys user-modifiable or provide a tamper switch to stop the boot check, the way that the Chromebooks work. You can either run the vendor-supplied firmware with DRM and whatnot or you can, with some small amount of effort, replace it with your own without the DRM.

The whole thing where it was said that you needed to divulge your private keys to make signed firmware images was a huge black eye and has done much to prevent uptake of the GPLv3 by device makers. This perception should have been fought tooth and nail both with extensive propaganda and supporting changes to the legal text.

That's just my opinion though.

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You can say it all you want, it doesn't make it true

Posted Jul 30, 2013 17:44 UTC (Tue) by rfontana (subscriber, #52677) [Link] (1 responses)

> I think this was handled poorly by the GPLv3 design committee,

The what?

> ISTM the way to handle anti-TiVoization is to make the lock-down
> keys user-modifiable or provide a tamper switch to stop the boot
> check, the way that the Chromebooks work. You can either run the
> vendor-supplied firmware with DRM and whatnot or you can, with some
> small amount of effort, replace it with your own without the DRM.

This is one way to comply with the so-called anti-TiVoization
provisions of GPLv3.

You can say it all you want, it doesn't make it true

Posted Jul 30, 2013 19:16 UTC (Tue) by raven667 (guest, #5198) [Link]

>> make the lock-down keys user-modifiable or provide a tamper switch to stop the boot check, the way that the Chromebooks work.

> This is one way to comply with the so-called anti-TiVoization
provisions of GPLv3.

Yes and this was poorly advertised and promoted. Even today people commonly claim that the only way to comply with the GPLv3 is to provide the private signing keys or that the GPLv3 is fundamentally incompatible with any kind of boot time checks. I believe that this is one of the main reasons why Linus and many Linux developers don't like the GPLv3 and why many large projects are GPLv2-only or don't pick a GPL-family license at all. I think that we now have less Free Software using the GPL-family after the GPLv3 than before its introduction, which seems like a disaster to me.

I don't see much other than the Google devices which even try to be open, and the Android team didn't even chose the GPL because they believe it is incompatible with their business interests. Whether that is true or not, the fact that the meme is out there and so strong it its own problem that should have been avoided.