From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: "John W. Linville" Subject: ANNOUNCE: SFLC helps developers assess ar5k (enabling free Atheros HAL) Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 22:10:26 -0500 Message-ID: <20061115031025.GH3451@tuxdriver.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: lwn@lwn.net, madwifi-devel@lists.sourceforge.net Return-path: To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, netdev@vger.kernel.org Content-Disposition: inline List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: madwifi-devel-bounces@lists.sourceforge.net Errors-To: madwifi-devel-bounces@lists.sourceforge.net List-Id: netdev.vger.kernel.org It is my pleasure to announce that the SFLC [1] has assisted the ar5k developers in evaluating the development history of Reyk Floeter's OpenBSD reverse-engineered Atheros HAL, ar5k [2]. SFLC's assessment leads to the conclusion that free software developers should not be worried about using/extending ar5k or porting ar5k to other platforms. In the past there were serious questions raised and even dire warnings made about ar5k's copyright status. The purpose of this statement is to refute those claims and to publicly clarify ar5k's status to developers. SFLC has made independent inquiries with the OpenBSD team regarding the development history of ar5k source. The responses received provide a reasonable basis for SFLC to believe that the OpenBSD developers who worked on ar5k did not misappropriate code, and that the ar5k implementation is OpenBSD's original copyrighted work. This announcement should serve to remove the cloud which has prevented progress towards an in-kernel driver for Atheros hardware. This should be of particular interest to those involved with the DadWifi project [3]. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the folks at the SFLC for their hard work, and I'd also like to personally thank Luis Rodriguez for the role he played in coordinating contact between the SFLC and the community at large. Thanks! John [1] http://www.softwarefreedom.org/ [2] http://team.vantronix.net/ar5k/ [3] http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-netdev&m=116113064513921&w=2 -- John W. Linville linville@tuxdriver.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys - and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV