Re: [I4L] hfcpci missing MODULE_LICENSE

[Valdis . Kletnieks]

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 03:00:03 +0100, Tonnerre Anklin <thunder@xxxxxxxxxxx>  said:

> If this is compiled as a module and then loaded, the kernel is tainted
> because of a missing module license.

True.  However..

> Also,  according to  many european  laws, software  which  is released
> under no license must not be used.

No way to verify this.  I mostly understand the US copyright code as
it impacts my work, but have no idea what the other side of that puddle
does legally (and for that matter, I don't claim to know what the other
side of the other, even bigger, puddle is)...

> <URL:http://keepsake.keepsake.ch/~thunder/noyau/2.6.0-test11-ta1/hfcpci_license.xml>

which says: "I guess the license is meant to be GPL."  And so it was almost
certainly intended to be.

> +MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
>  MODULE_AUTHOR("Kai Germaschewski <kai.germaschewski@xxxxxx>/Werner Cornelius <werner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>");


Unfortunately, neither you nor I nor anybody but Kai or Werner (or their
assignees) can do this, as I understand the law.  The only proper resolutions
here are to get one of them to make some sort of statement (I suspect even a
"Yea, it's GPL, we just forgot the macro" e-mail from one of them would be good
enough), or to pull the code out of the 2.6.0 tree till it *is* resolved.

(Sorry to be a stickler, but this is the sort of thing that Darl and
company would love to make a point about - we *do* need to keep careful
track of the actual source and license status of every line....)

Kai? Werner? You out there?

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