On Thu, 2 Feb 2006, Alan Cox wrote:
On Iau, 2006-02-02 at 01:00 -0800, Linus Torvalds wrote:
Sure, DRM may mean that you can not _install_ or _run_ your changes on somebody elses hardware.Last time I checked the Xbox was owned by the person who bought it. Xbox
Linux hits this problem today. So it may affect "your hardware" too
unless you make hardware, which is an unusual and privileged position.
Ok, now replace "hardware" by "software", and replace DRM by "proprietary", and what's the difference?
The fact is, if you buy proprietary software, you cannot make it do everything you want, regardless of of whether you "own" it or not. The creator of the software may have designed it so that it only does certain things.
Tough. The solution: use open source software.
The same holds true for hardware. If you buy proprietary hardware, you cannot make it do everything you want, whether you "own" it or not. The manufacturer of the hardware may have designed it so that it only does certain things.
Tough. The solution: use open hardware.
The solution is NOT to create a software license that is obviously not usable. And the GPLv3 really _is_ obviously not usable for the kernel, because it creates insane situations whether the hardware is open or closed.