Christoph,
I am the current Chair of the OFA, and therefore do speak for the OFA.
I will be at the LPC and will attend both RDMA sessions.
The OFA’s position on this is not cast in stone.
We realize that OFS has matured and no longer needs the care and feeding it did ~8 years ago.
That said, the OFA believes there is still value in our existence.
( even if you wish we should die a slow death :)
The OFA’s position is that we have some member companies that require dual license in order to offer products and solutions that repackage OFS software on non-Linux OSs. We are in the process of finding out from those members what bits are critical to that re-packaging. We also believe, contrary to your understanding, that we cannot force dual license on the entire RDMA kernel subsystem.
Back in June we began an effort to see if that was possible. ( that = keeping the kernel bits dual licensed ) Part of that effort was an email I sent you to ask if you would be willing to dual license your recent patches. You never responded, so I assumed you A. never saw the email B. trashed it with prejudice C. were too busy to respond. Hopefully you did not consider that email “bullying”, as I believe I used the words “Any chance you’d be willing” … and just "thought I’d ask”.
We also have considered a clean room approach to re-creating the single licensed patches, but have decided that may not be realistic.
Therefore, we - the OFA - are trying to strike a balance that works for our members and will survive in the real world.
If we die a slow death and the various ULPs that rely on RDMA continue to grow and improve - so be it.
And you can dance on our grave.
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Susan Coulter / HPC-DES
Network Capability Lead
(505) 667-8425
“Once in a while you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right” Robert Hunter
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