From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S264415AbTLaNAu (ORCPT ); Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:00:50 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S264476AbTLaNAu (ORCPT ); Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:00:50 -0500 Received: from parcelfarce.linux.theplanet.co.uk ([195.92.249.252]:63445 "EHLO www.linux.org.uk") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S264415AbTLaNAr (ORCPT ); Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:00:47 -0500 Message-ID: <3FF2C86C.1030906@pobox.com> Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:00:28 -0500 From: Jeff Garzik User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030703 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: =?ISO-8859-2?Q?Karel_Kulhav=FD?= CC: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: Compatibility of Nvidia NVNET driver license with GPL References: <20031231073101.A474@beton.cybernet.src> <3FF26E8A.5070806@pobox.com> <20031231114357.A318@beton.cybernet.src> In-Reply-To: <20031231114357.A318@beton.cybernet.src> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-2; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Karel Kulhavý wrote: > On Wed, Dec 31, 2003 at 01:36:58AM -0500, Jeff Garzik wrote: > >>Karel Kulhavý wrote: >> >>>Hello >>> >>>I faintly remember reading some article on the Net from Linus Torvalds stating >>>something like if a piece of code is written specifically for Linux kernel, it >>>must be under GPL. >>> >>>I have got an nVidia NForce2 board and downloaded their Ethernet driver (nvnet) >>>and they say in README: "the network driver provided by NVIDIA is subject to >>>the NVIDIA software license". How is with compatibility of such a behaviour >>>with GPL of the kernel sources? >> >> >>Since I am not a lawyer, my engineering suggestion would be to sidestep >>legal issues by using "forcedeth" driver, to drive your nForce NIC. >>It's fully GPL'd, and full open source. > > > Suppose we would like to overcome these perpetual problems with misbehaving > manufacturers by designing a PCI network card from scratch in the soul of > free source hardware. > > What are the requirements of the kernel for such a card to be cool instead of > piece of shit? How should such a card behave from PCI point of view, should it > support scatter, gather, how should interrupts be handled, what should be > programmable and what not? How should be busmastering implemented? > > I am seriously thinking about designing something like that (tailored specially > for Linux) because of developping Ronja - if I included native Ronja support in > "my" network card, I could remove the superfluous circuits that implement > "bureaucracy" linke autonegotiation, TP link integrity etc. and concentrate on > raw performance. Also multiple ports could be on one card (say 4) which would > make the whole thing more nifty. > > I have made to work the whole design chain from schematic design to production > of raw files for PCB manufacturers. Also seen a design of video capture > board for IDE connector so I judge implementing something on a PCI should'n > be a pain in the ass higher than moderate. If you are serious about this, we have tons of good ideas, and tons of suggestions on how to avoid bad ideas :) OpenCores (http://www.opencores.org/) might be a good place to start, as they already have a 10/100 ethernet MAC which is working, and has been silicon'd: http://www.opencores.org/projects/ethmac/ Full "source" for the MAC is available, in VHDL I think. OpenCores also has PCI VHDL and other glue you may need. You'll definitely want to implement autonegotiation. It's a showstopper without that. And if it's not gigabit ethernet, it's already outdated. So it's a tough challenge. Once you have basic gigabit ethernet working with 10/100/1000 autonegotiation, let us know, and we'll pelt you with good suggestions :) > Is it possible to obtain some PCI specs without NDA's and such bullshit? > Is here anyone who has taken the PCI specs and rewritten them in their > own words? You don't need an NDA, but you do need to pay US$50 or so for the specs. Or a nice person might just send them to you :) Jeff