National Semiconductor Corporation Open Source License

National Semiconductor Corporation Open Source License

[Martin Langer]

Hi,

the ALSA-0.5 Geode Driver (geode.c) on
http://www.gctglobal.com/Download/alsa-geode.tar.gz 
which still waits for a port to 0.9 has the following license, which is not
GPL. Is it really possible to include such a license into the alsa package?
(I see the big problem in the export laws because the kernel is under GPL
without an export rule)

I won't use this code, but I'm definitely no license expert. Or is it possible
to use a different license for a port (IMHO it's more than a modification, but
I don't know the definition of a lawyer in this case)

On the other hand I found another older file in the tgz called geode_BAK.c
without a license text. Same license, no license or GPL for that file?

Or can a port use a dual license (GPL/NSC OSL)?

Anybody there who knows something?


martin



/* NSC_LIC_BSD
 *
 * Revision 1.0.1
 *
 * National Semiconductor Corporation Open Source License for 
 *
 *    Geode Linux ALSA audio driver
 *
 * (BSD License with Export Notice)
 *
 * Copyright (c) July, 2001
 * National Semiconductor Corporation.
 * All rights reserved.
 *
 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without 
 * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions 
 * are met: 
 *
 *   * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright 
 *     notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 
 *
 *   * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above 
 *     copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following 
 *     disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided 
 *     with the distribution. 
 *
 *   * Neither the name of the National Semiconductor Corporation nor 
 *     the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote 
 *     products derived from this software without specific prior 
 *     written permission. 
 *
 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS 
 * "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT 
 * LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS 
 * FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE 
 * NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY 
 * DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL 
 * DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE 
 * GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS 
 * INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER 
 * IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR 
 * OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN 
 * IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 *
 * EXPORT LAWS: THIS LICENSE ADDS NO RESTRICTIONS TO THE EXPORT LAWS OF 
 * YOUR JURISDICTION. It is licensee's responsibility to comply with 
 * any export regulations applicable in licensee's jurisdiction. Under 
 * CURRENT (July, 2001) U.S. export regulations this software 
 * is eligible for export from the U.S. and can be downloaded by or 
 * otherwise exported or reexported worldwide EXCEPT to U.S. embargoed 
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 * has embargoed goods and services. 
 *
 * END_NSC_LIC_BSD */


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Re: National Semiconductor Corporation Open Source License

[Jaroslav Kysela]

On Sat, 1 Mar 2003, Martin Langer wrote:

> 
> Hi,
> 
> the ALSA-0.5 Geode Driver (geode.c) on
> http://www.gctglobal.com/Download/alsa-geode.tar.gz 
> which still waits for a port to 0.9 has the following license, which is not
> GPL. Is it really possible to include such a license into the alsa package?
> (I see the big problem in the export laws because the kernel is under GPL
> without an export rule)
> 
> I won't use this code, but I'm definitely no license expert. Or is it possible
> to use a different license for a port (IMHO it's more than a modification, but
> I don't know the definition of a lawyer in this case)
> 
> On the other hand I found another older file in the tgz called geode_BAK.c
> without a license text. Same license, no license or GPL for that file?
> 
> Or can a port use a dual license (GPL/NSC OSL)?
> 
> Anybody there who knows something?

I think that if you write the whole driver without cut-n-paste using only
hardware information from the original source then you can use your own 
license without problems.

						Jaroslav

-----
Jaroslav Kysela <perex@suse.cz>
Linux Kernel Sound Maintainer
ALSA Project, SuSE Labs



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Re: National Semiconductor Corporation Open Source License

[Takashi Iwai]

At Sat, 1 Mar 2003 19:26:34 +0100,
Martin Langer wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> the ALSA-0.5 Geode Driver (geode.c) on
> http://www.gctglobal.com/Download/alsa-geode.tar.gz 
> which still waits for a port to 0.9 has the following license, which is not
> GPL. Is it really possible to include such a license into the alsa package?
> (I see the big problem in the export laws because the kernel is under GPL
> without an export rule)

not all kernel sources are under GPL.

> I won't use this code, but I'm definitely no license expert. Or is it possible
> to use a different license for a port (IMHO it's more than a modification, but
> I don't know the definition of a lawyer in this case)
> 
> On the other hand I found another older file in the tgz called geode_BAK.c
> without a license text. Same license, no license or GPL for that file?
> 
> Or can a port use a dual license (GPL/NSC OSL)?

Dual BSD/GPL are used in many drivers.

	% grep -r 'MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL")' linux
	linux/fs/nls/nls_cp1250.c:MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL");
	linux/fs/nls/nls_cp1251.c:MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL");
	linux/fs/nls/nls_cp1255.c:MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL");
	linux/fs/nls/nls_big5.c:MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL");
	linux/fs/nls/nls_sjis.c:MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL");
	...

but, this driver code is terrible.  it's aceesing the PCI registers
directly without the linux PCI API, and use the fixed irq, etc.
we should write it from scratch based on the hardware information of
this driver.


Takashi


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Re: National Semiconductor Corporation Open Source License

[Martin Langer]

On Mon, Mar 03, 2003 at 11:44:02AM +0100, Takashi Iwai wrote:
> At Sat, 1 Mar 2003 19:26:34 +0100,
> Martin Langer wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > Hi,
> > 
> > the ALSA-0.5 Geode Driver (geode.c) on
> > http://www.gctglobal.com/Download/alsa-geode.tar.gz 
> > which still waits for a port to 0.9 has the following license, which is not
> > GPL. Is it really possible to include such a license into the alsa package?
> > (I see the big problem in the export laws because the kernel is under GPL
> > without an export rule)
> 
> not all kernel sources are under GPL.
> 
> > I won't use this code, but I'm definitely no license expert. Or is it possible
> > to use a different license for a port (IMHO it's more than a modification, but
> > I don't know the definition of a lawyer in this case)
> > 
> > On the other hand I found another older file in the tgz called geode_BAK.c
> > without a license text. Same license, no license or GPL for that file?
> > 
> > Or can a port use a dual license (GPL/NSC OSL)?
> 
> Dual BSD/GPL are used in many drivers.
> 
> 	% grep -r 'MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL")' linux
> 	linux/fs/nls/nls_cp1250.c:MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL");
> 	linux/fs/nls/nls_cp1251.c:MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL");
> 	linux/fs/nls/nls_cp1255.c:MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL");
> 	linux/fs/nls/nls_big5.c:MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL");
> 	linux/fs/nls/nls_sjis.c:MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL");
> 	...
> 
> but, this driver code is terrible.  it's aceesing the PCI registers
> directly without the linux PCI API, and use the fixed irq, etc.

Right. My first attempt was without an fixed IRQ and it ends with:
ALSA cs5530.c:445: unable to grab IRQ 0

But the usage of fixed IRQ 5 in my code seems to work. Ok, I will have a
look into the manual, maybe I find some hints.


martin


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