From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.33) id 1BVEdI-0000aI-2f for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Tue, 01 Jun 2004 15:09:08 -0400 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.33) id 1BVEdG-0000Zu-8w for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Tue, 01 Jun 2004 15:09:07 -0400 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.33) id 1BVEdG-0000Zk-5R for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Tue, 01 Jun 2004 15:09:06 -0400 Received: from [216.254.0.203] (helo=mail3.speakeasy.net) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (TLSv1:DES-CBC3-SHA:168) (Exim 4.34) id 1BVEcp-0000p6-Af for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Tue, 01 Jun 2004 15:08:39 -0400 Received: from dsl081-088-222.lax1.dsl.speakeasy.net (HELO [192.168.111.2]) ([64.81.88.222]) (envelope-sender ) by mail3.speakeasy.net (qmail-ldap-1.03) with SMTP for ; 1 Jun 2004 19:08:37 -0000 Subject: Re: Subject: Re: [Qemu-devel] VGA BIOS source code From: "John R. Hogerhuis" In-Reply-To: <40BCC56D.9050604@fabianowski.de> References: <200405312200.03734.bobb@absamail.co.za> <40BB92D1.6040508@fabianowski.de> <200405312114.08329.kyle@silverbeach.net> <40BC18B6.9040300@fabianowski.de> <20040601124418.E25801@edinburgh.cisco.com> <40BCC56D.9050604@fabianowski.de> Content-Type: text/plain Message-Id: <1086116941.23603.64.camel@aragorn> Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 12:09:01 -0700 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Reply-To: jhoger@pobox.com, qemu-devel@nongnu.org List-Id: qemu-devel.nongnu.org List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , To: qemu-devel@nongnu.org I'm not a lawyer, and anyone who worries about such things should talk to one, but as far as reference docs go: If they haven't patented some trickiness in their interface, and you haven't signed an NDA, and it's not a trade secret (it ain't if the document is freely downloadable) then there is probably very little to worry about other than upsetting them enough to stop giving out info in the future (which would be bad in the bigger picture for Linux). But I don't see how software emulation of their chip is going to impact their hardware sales in any obvious way. Copyright infringement is the only thing one would really have to worry about, and unless you are redistributing the document I'm not sure how that would come into play. -- John. On Tue, 2004-06-01 at 11:05, Bartosz Fabianowski wrote: > > Well the VMware 'chip' interface is documented, you could implement > > it, however I doubt they'd be happy for you to use their drivers. > > Actually, I wonder how happy Cirrus Logic will be if people use their > reference manuals to implement a GD54xx emulation. Clearly, each manual > states right at the beginning that you are not allowed to use it as a > basis for manufacturing or selling anything, unless you have written > permission from them. QEMU is not being sold by anybody AFAIK, but the > question whether writing an emulator is manufacturing an item (a > software item) still remains. > > - Bartosz > > > _______________________________________________ > Qemu-devel mailing list > Qemu-devel@nongnu.org > http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/qemu-devel > >