From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1LD1BB-00024H-9a for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:31:29 -0500 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1LD1B7-000245-S3 for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:31:28 -0500 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=56742 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1LD1B7-000242-N8 for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:31:25 -0500 Received: from david.siemens.de ([192.35.17.14]:21359) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS-1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1LD1B7-00076A-3f for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:31:25 -0500 Message-ID: <4949454C.5000501@siemens.com> Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:30:36 +0100 From: Jan Kiszka MIME-Version: 1.0 Subject: Re: [Qemu-devel] [PATCH 0/3] Add BIOS splash image support References: <1229440810-12394-1-git-send-email-Laurent.Vivier@bull.net> <20081217135512.GJ13794@redhat.com> <49491281.9040505@siemens.com> <200812171517.52718.paul@codesourcery.com> <49492A6D.6@siemens.com> <49493372.3020205@codemonkey.ws> In-Reply-To: <49493372.3020205@codemonkey.ws> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Reply-To: qemu-devel@nongnu.org List-Id: qemu-devel.nongnu.org List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , To: Anthony Liguori Cc: Gleb Natapov , kvm developers , qemu-devel@nongnu.org, Blue Swirl , bochs developers , Paul Brook Anthony Liguori wrote: > Jan Kiszka wrote: >> Paul Brook wrote: >> >>>> BTW, why does qemu not carry all bochs bios source? For reference, but >>>> also to fully comply with the LGPL (pointing to the original source is >>>> not sufficient when delivering binaries - like e.g. bios.bin...). >>>> >>> If this is really an issue, then I strongly suggest we fix it by >>> moving the bios into its own project, and have everyone fetch it from >>> there. >>> >> >> Qemu distributes binaries that have been generated from LGPLed sources >> (this is at least the case for bochs, one would have to check the >> situation for the other firmware images), so it has to provide the >> corresponding source code according to the license terms. > > You are not qualified to make the statement "has to". This is a legal > issue and depends on how the GPL is interpreted. The FSF provides a set > of guidelines and so does Debian. Debian's guidelines are more > extreme. If you look at the FSF FAQ on this subject, the main issue is > ensuring that the source code is always available. > > Since Bochs is on SF, as long as we ensure that the version we base on > is always available, you could certainly conclude that's enough. Well, I guess we are both not qualified to finally judge over this. But this is not my point. > > But please, this is not an issue worth even discussing here. It is only > relevant for people distributing QEMU and it's up to those people to > consult with their legal teams to determine whether they need to do > anything special. And why complicating things downstream when it can be fixed upstream? Because it is only a legal issue? As a redistributor of OSS who cares a lot about such issues, you have a lot of "fun" getting things right when upstream forgot it. But as it looks like, there is a consensus on changing the situation anyway. And up to now, no animal should have been harmed, too. Jan -- Siemens AG, Corporate Technology, CT SE 26 Corporate Competence Center Embedded Linux