From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1758142AbYD2G0o (ORCPT ); Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:26:44 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1754750AbYD2G0g (ORCPT ); Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:26:36 -0400 Received: from www.tglx.de ([62.245.132.106]:41522 "EHLO www.tglx.de" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751024AbYD2G0f (ORCPT ); Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:26:35 -0400 Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:26:27 +0200 From: "Hans J. Koch" To: pradeep singh rautela Cc: Greg KH , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: [Q]Can a file be dual licensed in upstream kernel? Message-ID: <20080429062627.GA3195@local> References: <6bc632150804282237o1aa04e28t93f46874cd14721f@mail.gmail.com> <20080429055356.GA8279@kroah.com> <6bc632150804282310yf2a3bfm5a5e89e5ed4af165@mail.gmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <6bc632150804282310yf2a3bfm5a5e89e5ed4af165@mail.gmail.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.17+20080114 (2008-01-14) Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 11:40:26AM +0530, pradeep singh rautela wrote: > On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 11:23 AM, Greg KH wrote: > > On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 11:07:37AM +0530, pradeep [snip] > > > Can a module/file be Dual licensed(i.e BSD/GPLv2) in the upstream > > > Linux kernel sources? > > > > Are you somehow not believing the files that we have in the tree that > > are licensed this way? > > > I think it is GPLv2 only. > > > > Licensing questions would be better off asked to lawyers, not > > programmers. Would you ask a random group of lawyers on a public > > mailing list medical questions and trust their responses? > > Um... apologies Greg.I did not mean that in any sense.I am a > programmer not a lawyer. I am asking to get clear understanding of the > licensing issues and I myself do not have any good understanding on > dual licensing Vs GPLv2 licensing in Linux kernel. I share Greg's opinion that this list is not the place for getting or giving legal advice. Please _do_ consult a lawyer. In my _personal_opinion_, dual licensing gives you the right to choose between two licenses. If a file is dual licensed BSD/GPLv2, anybody (including yourself) is free to get rid of the BSD part and make it GPLv2 only. Thanks, Hans