Re: Inclusion of tp_smapi module into kernel?

J.R. Mauro
2008-11-17T17:13:22Z

On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 11:38 AM, H. Peter Anvin <hpa@zytor.com> wrote:
> Hanno Böck wrote:
>>
>> I wanted to ask if there is some status on possible kernel inclusion. On
>> http://www.linuxdriverproject.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/OutOfTreeDrivers
>> I read
>> "will not be accepted upstream due to authorship issues (written by an
>> anonymous developer)"
>>
>> Now I can see copyright notices in all source files, though they may be
>> incomplete. But anyway, would this be a real problem?
>> Is there any rule that kernel code needs a named author? As long as it has a
>> fitting license, shouldn't this be fine?
>>
>
> We need to be able to identify who owns the copyright. For all we know,
> the anonymous submitter might not have the right to his own work (work
> for hire, etc.) or it could have been produced in violation of NDA
> terms, etc.

There are several utilities maintained by this author, and finding
some way to merge the code has been tried more than once. If you look
back far enough, Andrew asked to have another of the project's members
sign off on the patch, and maybe that would be acceptable enough, but
afaik the author has never responded directly to that idea.

>
> -hpa
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