From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Jay Cliburn Subject: New driver questions: Attansic L1 gigabit NIC Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 19:11:42 -0500 Message-ID: <44DFBFBE.1070201@bellsouth.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Return-path: Received: from imf23aec.mail.bellsouth.net ([205.152.59.71]:53703 "EHLO imf23aec.mail.bellsouth.net") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751756AbWHNALo (ORCPT ); Sun, 13 Aug 2006 20:11:44 -0400 Received: from ibm66aec.bellsouth.net ([70.152.106.237]) by imf23aec.mail.bellsouth.net with ESMTP id <20060814001143.CEEC5233.imf23aec.mail.bellsouth.net@ibm66aec.bellsouth.net> for ; Sun, 13 Aug 2006 20:11:43 -0400 Received: from [192.168.1.3] (really [70.152.106.237]) by ibm66aec.bellsouth.net with ESMTP id <20060814001143.UBRS828.ibm66aec.bellsouth.net@[192.168.1.3]> for ; Sun, 13 Aug 2006 20:11:43 -0400 To: netdev@vger.kernel.org Sender: netdev-owner@vger.kernel.org List-Id: netdev.vger.kernel.org I recently purchased an Asus M2V socket AM2 motherboard that comes with an onboard Attansic L1 Gigabit Ethernet Controller. The CD that came with the motherboard contains GPL'd driver source for the NIC. The driver builds, installs, and functions cleanly in Fedora Core 5. Despite the clear assertion of GPL licensing in the license file[1], an accompanying readme file says: This driver is only supported as a loadable module at this time. Attansic is not supplying patches against the kernel source to allow for static linking of the driver. I've read the LKML FAQ regarding new driver submissions, but it implies that the submitter be willing to maintain the driver, which I'm not qualified to do. I haven't contacted Attansic to request a change to the above support statement, because my past attempts to contact vendors on matters of this tenor have been greeted with silence. First question: Can anyone who purchases a device that ships with GPL'd driver source code submit said source code for inclusion in the kernel? Second question: If I'm not qualified to maintain the driver, what are its prospects for inclusion in the kernel? How does one go about soliciting a maintainer? [1] [root@osprey atl1]# head -n 15 license "This software program is licensed subject to the GNU General Public License (GPL). Version 2, June 1991, available at " GNU General Public License Version 2, June 1991 Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed. --- Thanks, Jay