Re: Linux in a binary world... a doomsday scenario

Jeff Garzik
2005-12-06T10:09:43Z

David Woodhouse wrote:
> Since the protection of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL() is only relevant if you are
> actually found to be in violation of the licence, we might as well be
> using it for all symbols. If you fervently believe that binary-only
> modules are legal, you can still go ahead and use them. It's just that
> you'd better be _very_ sure of yourself before you do so, because if you
> _do_ lose in court you'll be getting more than a slap on the wrist.
>
> By switching in the opposite direction, Linus is actively weakening our
> position, and I object very strongly to that.

Linus made a pragmatic technical decision for the benefit of a bunch of
Linux users, a decision I support despite the fact that NVIDIA are a
bunch of sillyheads.

Realistically, no position was weakened, nothing new happened.

In the context of the larger thread, the doomsday scenario is highly
unlikely because of positive engineering attributes of open source.
Smart companies want open source drivers not because people snipe at
them verbally and legally, but because the process produces superior
engineering in the end.

Jeff