Re: Dual-Licensing Linux Kernel with GPL V2 and GPL V3

Chris Friesen
2007-06-14T17:52:46Z

Alexandre Oliva wrote:

> But see, I'm not talking about getting permission to hack the
> hardware. I'm only talking about getting permission to hack the Free
> Software in it.

No you're not...you're talking about being able to hack the software
*and load it back onto the original hardware*.

> It's your position that mingles the issues and permits people to use
> the hardware to deprive users of freedom over the software that
> they're entitled to have.

The software license controls the software. If the hardware has
restrictions on it that limit what software it will run, then that is
unrelated to the software license.

There is nothing stopping you from taking the code for the tivo,
modifying it, distributing it, or even running it on other hardware.

Suppose I had some machine that will only run microsoft-signed binaries.
Would it be at all related to any software license that this machine
won't let me run linux?

Chris