Free software for whom?
Free software for whom?
Posted Apr 10, 2018 18:54 UTC (Tue) by epa (subscriber, #39769)Parent article: Prospects for free software in cars
If free is to be about freedom, not price, then talking of free software in cars is a misnomer. It would be better to say ‘Linux in cars’, or ‘locked-down software systems where you can possibly view the source code’.
Posted Apr 10, 2018 21:53 UTC (Tue)
by ay (guest, #79347)
[Link] (6 responses)
I've been involved in building several "Tivoized" devices, it was never about DRM or locking people out of freedom and always about security (usually for the customers: assurance they aren't running hacked code) and safety. Ultimately this isn't going to get resolved and I'm afraid GPL3 systems will simply go away in production. Everywhere I've recently dealt with had a "no GPL3" policy for those reasons.
Posted Apr 11, 2018 8:20 UTC (Wed)
by epa (subscriber, #39769)
[Link] (2 responses)
Posted Apr 11, 2018 16:44 UTC (Wed)
by ballombe (subscriber, #9523)
[Link] (1 responses)
On the other hand, I would not be unhappy if closed devices I buy came will full source code and a binding statement that the source code matches the firmware code certified by a third-party.
Posted Apr 19, 2018 10:47 UTC (Thu)
by Wol (subscriber, #4433)
[Link]
And yes, I don't know how happy I am with that, but it seems reasonable for safety-critical code.
The other option - which would permit GPL3 - is for the law to recognise that after-market software is the same as aftermarket parts. Then the system could be configured such that the user could add *their* *own* signing key for aftermarket software, and at least if anything happens it's clear whether it's original or aftermarket.
Mind you, it might be interesting to look at what happened with Vauxhall/Opel and the Mark II Zafira recently. I don't remember/know much of the detail, but bearing in mind these vehicles went out of production a good few years ago, and the problem was traced to an aftermarket part, Vauxhall had their dealerships check any suspect vehicle for free. They possibly even fixed it for free. (This was the "Zafiras are bursting into flames" news story...)
Cheers,
Posted Apr 11, 2018 15:39 UTC (Wed)
by miahfost (guest, #51602)
[Link] (1 responses)
What would you say to using an exception in the GPLv3 to permit the car maker to withhold installation information (but still release all the source code)? RMS says using exceptions is okay, the GPLv3 has a robust mechanism for using them, and there apparently a clause vetted by experienced lawyers available that would allow one to provide an exception to section 6 of the GPLv3. This way you would get all of the benefits of the GPLv3 (which is a better license than v2) plus you'd be excepted from supplying the install info like private encryption keys.
Posted Apr 11, 2018 21:28 UTC (Wed)
by ay (guest, #79347)
[Link]
Looking more broadly, new toolchains are LLVM-based (rust, etc), Google is developing Fuchsia which replaces the Linux kernel, uses an LLVM-based toolchain, and replaces pretty much everything else in the "stack", and so on. There might not be much GPL code left if that succeeds and picks up momentum.
Posted Apr 11, 2018 21:24 UTC (Wed)
by jhhaller (guest, #56103)
[Link]
Free software for whom?
Free software for whom?
Free software for whom?
Free software for whom?
Wol
Free software for whom?
Free software for whom?
Free software for whom?