Re: [Qemu-devel] The QEMU Accelerator Module

[Tom Marble <tmarble@info9.net>]

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Fabrice Bellard wrote:

> KQEMU is _not_ open source as the rest of QEMU. It is a proprietary
> kernel module (read the LICENSE file) and will stay so until a gentle
> company decides to subsidy the QEMU project.

I'd like to make an appeal that KQEMU be licensed under the GPL.

I'm not going to try to roll out a general FOSS position statement, but
speak from a more practical level:
- This technology is extremely important for faciliting automated
  testing of the full (open) stack (including BIOS, ACPI, storage,
  graphics, OS, swsusp).  And that testing is vital to the continuing quality
  and vibrance of the entire stack.
- non-GPL kernel modules will taint the kernel and completely
  change the trajectory of the technology (it's support, innovation,
  evolution, etc.)
- Clearly Fabrice is (currently) in the comfortable position of
  being the Benevolent Dictator ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_dictator ).
  I'm sure that's a position that could lead to speaking engagements,
  books, consulting and other forms of monetization which
  are quite compatible with the GPL.

Is KQEMU valuable?  Absolutely!  Could it be proprietary?  Of course
(vis VMware).  In this strange calculus of open source, as counterintuitive
as it seems, I'm convinced that it can be even *more* valuable as
GPL technology (to the community) and more valuable to Fabrice
personally.  While there may be many shades of 'open' (e.g. blender)
I'm sure that that community would be much more productive
with a GPL license and consequently would provide much more
enthusiastic support of whatever Fabrice needs.

I'm sure everyone would be willing to help Googlebomb and /.
Qemu, right?  (Or better yet, help make KQEMU *even better*
through many eyes so that it can really reach a new level of success).

Sincerely,

--Tom

P.S. Some press already
  http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/10/1320231&tid=201&tid=190&tid=1
  http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/21/176235&tid=93&tid=158
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qemu
  http://freshmeat.net/projects/qemu/

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