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X-Mailer: exmh version 2.1.1 10/15/1999
From: David Woodhouse <dwmw2@infradead.org>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.10.10007060930410.29900-100000@master.linux-ide.org>
References: <Pine.LNX.4.10.10007060930410.29900-100000@master.linux-ide.org>
To: Andre Hedrick <andre@linux-ide.org>
Cc: hiroaki yamamoto <hiroyama73@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: GPL and Linux kernel related question...
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 18:06:40 +0100
Message-ID: <5729.962903200@cygnus.co.uk>
Sender: dwmw2@cygnus.co.uk
andre@linux-ide.org said:
> Lets not go here..........
Indeed. Follow-ups to /dev/null please. This code is definitely under GPL.
I've clarified the comments, and have sent a patch to Linus. It now reads...
/* Linux driver for NAND Flash Translation Layer */
/* (c) 1999 Machine Vision Holdings, Inc. */
/* Author: David Woodhouse <dwmw2@infradead.org> */
/* $Id: nftl.c,v 1.35 2000/07/06 14:35:01 dwmw2 Exp $ */
/*
The contents of this file are distributed under the GNU Public
Licence version 2 ("GPL"). The legal note below refers only to the
_use_ of the code in some jurisdictions, and does not in any way
affect the copying, distribution and modification of this code,
which is permitted under the terms of the GPL.
Section 0 of the GPL says:
"Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
covered by this License; they are outside its scope."
You may copy, distribute and modify this code to your hearts'
content - it's just that in some jurisdictions, you may only _use_
it under the terms of the licence below. This puts it in a similar
situation to the ISDN code, which you may need telco approval to
use, and indeed any code which has uses that may be restricted in
law. For example, certain malicious uses of the networking stack
may be illegal, but that doesn't prevent the networking code from
being under GPL.
In fact the ISDN case is worse than this, because modification of
the code automatically invalidates its approval. Modificiation,
unlike usage, _is_ one of the rights which is protected by the
GPL. Happily, the law in those places where approval is required
doesn't actually prevent you from modifying the code - it's just
that you may not be allowed to _use_ it once you've done so - and
because usage isn't addressed by the GPL, that's just fine.
dwmw2@infradead.org
6/7/0
LEGAL NOTE: The NFTL format is patented by M-Systems. They have
granted a licence for its use with their DiskOnChip products:
"M-Systems grants a royalty-free, non-exclusive license under
any presently existing M-Systems intellectual property rights
necessary for the design and development of NFTL-compatible
drivers, file systems and utilities to use the data formats with,
and solely to support, M-Systems' DiskOnChip products"
A signed copy of this agreement from M-Systems is kept on file by
Red Hat UK Limited. In the unlikely event that you need access to it,
please contact dwmw2@redhat.com for assistance. */
- --
dwmw2
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