From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with archive (Exim 4.43) id 1JMVIp-000190-RZ for mharc-grub-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:26:03 -0500 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1JMVIo-00018b-Kv for grub-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:26:02 -0500 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1JMVIm-00017o-FK for grub-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:26:01 -0500 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1JMVIm-00017l-7w for grub-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:26:00 -0500 Received: from c60.cesmail.net ([216.154.195.49]) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS-1.0:RSA_ARCFOUR_SHA1:16) (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1JMVIm-0000i6-8l for grub-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:26:00 -0500 Received: from unknown (HELO relay.cesmail.net) ([192.168.1.81]) by c60.cesmail.net with ESMTP; 05 Feb 2008 16:25:59 -0500 Received: from [192.168.1.21] (static-72-92-88-10.phlapa.fios.verizon.net [72.92.88.10]) by relay.cesmail.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id B72E5619058 for ; Tue, 5 Feb 2008 16:25:58 -0500 (EST) From: Pavel Roskin To: The development of GRUB 2 In-Reply-To: <20080204225216.GA29158@thorin> References: <20080204225216.GA29158@thorin> Content-Type: text/plain Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:25:57 -0500 Message-Id: <1202246757.7569.16.camel@dv> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Evolution 2.12.3 (2.12.3-1.fc8) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-detected-kernel: by monty-python.gnu.org: Genre and OS details not recognized. Subject: Re: legal problem with cs89x0 driver X-BeenThere: grub-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: The development of GRUB 2 List-Id: The development of GRUB 2 List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:26:02 -0000 On Mon, 2008-02-04 at 23:52 +0100, Robert Millan wrote: > Hi, > > What do we do about the cs89x0 driver? Remove it? > > https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?20720 I suggest that we ask Russell Nelson nicely to change the license to GPL v2. If he doesn't answer, or if the answer is anything less than an unequivocal "yes", the driver should be removed and another version of GNU GRUB released. It's not like it's a clear case of a driver we cannot distribute. A good and well-paid lawyer could likely find several loopholes allowing us to distribute the driver. It could be argued that the code is distributed with the Etherboot package, which is a part of GNU GRUB. Or that GPL supersedes the comments in the file. Or that the original file was a Linux driver under GPL, and Russell Nelson did not have exclusive copyright to relicense it (the Linux driver mentions Donald Becker as well). However, I really doubt it's worth the trouble. Either Russell Nelson agrees to GPL with no conditions, or the driver is thrown out. If there are users who depend on it, it's their problem. Let them care about licenses, not us. -- Regards, Pavel Roskin