From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Jerry Van Baren Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:53:11 -0400 Subject: [U-Boot-Users] Proposal for a make option to include an additional stand alone program directory In-Reply-To: <20070426204159.6B7F23525D5@atlas.denx.de> References: <20070426204159.6B7F23525D5@atlas.denx.de> Message-ID: <46311137.7060207@smiths-aerospace.com> List-Id: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: u-boot@lists.denx.de Wolfgang Denk wrote: > In message <4631093C.7060002@freescale.com> you wrote: >> But even if the application were non-GPL, how would running it be a GPL violation? If I >> load the application into memory, and just execute it, and the application runs without >> calling U-Boot code, and then the application exits, that's not a GPL violation. > > You agree that static linking against a non-GPL library is illegal? > > What does static linking against a NON-GPL library mean? You combine the > U-Boot image and the library image in some way, or > load the library image into memory, > then you call a function from that library, > and just execute it, and that library function runs without > calling U-Boot code, and then the library function returns, that's ... > ...a GPL violation. > > Agreed? Then compare my text against your text a few lines above, and > tell me the difference. > > > Running an application and calling a function is two very different > things: U-Boot works perfectly fine without this application, and is > just a helper to be able to load and atart and run it. But a binary > firmware, which is needed for U-Boot to function properly, where > U-Boot does not work correctly or with the full functionality if the > firmware is not present, is a different thing. > > BTW: this is just my view, and IANAL... > > Best regards, > > Wolfgang Denk If you look at the VSC7385 switch product brief: you will see that it has a 8051-type supervisor processor. It looks to me like all Timur is doing is loading a binary blob into the switch's supervisor processor, which would not be a GPL issue. Unfortunately, Vitesse feels their loader software is sooper sekret so I cannot download a copy to see what the licensing terms are. If that is _not_ GPL, there may be an issue, but only with the loader software. If the loader software is stand-alone (can be run as a u-boot stand-alone application) it would not be a GPL issue since the u-boot license explicitly allows that. IANAL (and have been reading too much groklaw) gvb