[U-Boot] U-book and GPLv3?

Wolfgang Denk
2009-07-06T18:46:32Z

Dear Jerry Van Baren,

In message <4A521BD5.8080806@ge.com> you wrote:
>
> 3) U-Boot currently has an explicit license to run "stand alone
> applications" that have a GPL-incompatible license.

Thanks for mentioning this. But this is explicitly restricted to
"stand alone applications", with a pretty tightly limited set of
functions exported to such code. It is not intended to be extended
into something like loadable modules that can access much more of
U-Boot's internal code.

> Questions:
> Would U-Boot be willing to have as much GPLv2++ (GPLv3) as possible, and
> supporting a run time plug-in system to accommodate GPLv2-only modules?

This would quickly render the whole effort of going to GPLv3 useless,
as vendors would put all the "interesting" stuff into such GPLv2-only
modules, and the result would be the same as with an all-GPLv2 system.
Thus the answer can only be: if we go for GPLv3, then we have to do it
right, which forbids such an exception.

> If we accommodate GPLv2-only modules, will we allow proprietary
> modules? Depending on what we accept and how, proprietary modules may be
> allowed as a side effect of allowing GPLv2 modules - is that a problem?

We don't intend to support proprietary modules - the existing
exception for "stand alone applications" already allows to run
priprietary code if somebody really feels he must do that, but then
they please also take the burdon of developing _all_ their code
themself. I don't intend to give them all of the existing U-Boot code
for free to be used in their proprietary modules - that would be
stupid. We could use a BSD license then as well. This maight be
interesting to some, but it is definitely not acceptable to me.

> Richard, Wolfgang, U-Boot List, how do you view a "loadable module
> loophole" fitting in with GPLv3
> (a) legally and
> (b) philosophically?

I think there would be no big problems to set this up legally (just
give an experienced laywer enough $$$), but it does not fit in philo-
sophically - and not only not with GPLv3, but already now.

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

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