Re: Please add ZFS support (from GPL sources)

[jim owens <jowens@hp.com>]

Kevin Winchester wrote:
> 
> On Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 11:23 AM, Fred . <eldmannen@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>On Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 1:39 PM, Kevin Winchester
>>>
>>>No one else seems to have volunteered, so I would certainly like to
>>>give it a try.  I guess I need to get the ZFS grub code, create a ZFS
>>>filesystem, and start looking around for information on linux
>>>filesystem development and ZFS (obviously without looking at any CDDL
>>>licensed code).
>>
>>Code can be found here;
>>* http://src.opensolaris.org/source/xref/onnv/onnv-gate/usr/src/grub/grub-0.95/stage2/
>>
>>But it may be covered by patents by Sun. So maybe not allowed make an
>>implementation. :(
>>Maybe you should consult SFLC (Software Freedom Law Center) first or something.
>>
> I would have no idea of the legal implications here.  Do I really need
> to get the lawyers involved just to use GPLv2 code from another
> project in linux?

Having just gone through open sourcing with lawyers, I would
say anything with a GPLv2 is safe. Any patent Sun has on things
released under GPLv2 is open for use.

I don't know anything about CDDL rules, but if you don't look at
it, you won't be legally contaminated.

I have not looked at the ZFS grub code, but a general warning
based on my experience with other filesystem bootstrap code
is that it may be very limited and not be able to deal with
all structures on a ZFS filesystem... you won't know until
you hit one of them and fail.

jim