> On Oct 6, 2016, at 2:19 PM, Bart Van Assche <bart.vanassche@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > On 10/06/2016 11:33 AM, Coulter, Susan K wrote: >> 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. > > Hello Susan, > > Thank you for having clarified the position of the OFA. > > What is not clear to me is what are these products and who are these companies? > And why do these companies think that they need a BSD license? If the Linux RDMA code that is repackaged is built as a separate module then they don't need the BSD license. GPL should be fine. Run-time loading of kernel modules creates what is considered as a collective work under copyright law. The "viral" property of GPL only applies to derivative works. A collective work is not the same as a derivative work. This is explained in detail by several authors. E.g. Lawrence Rosen explains this in his book "Open Source Licensing", Software Freedom and Intellectual Property Law, Prentice Hall, 2004 (http://www.rosenlaw.com/oslbook.htm). The OFA is currently trying to figure out exactly which of our member companies care about and have a need for dual license. Until we finish pulling that thread, I cannot answer the question. The dual license requirement has existed a long time, but it is >possible< it may no longer be needed in many instances. So far, one company has suggested LGPL would be just fine. It is my belief (and hope) that when pushed to explain their need, they may find out they don’t need it. It could be historical precedent and overly cautious management. Thank you for the book reference - I just bought it. > > Please note that the above is my own opinion and has not been reviewed by the corporate legal team. Me too. :) > > Bart. ================================================== 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 ================================================== ��.n��������+%������w��{.n�����{���fk��ܨ}���Ơz�j:+v�����w����ޙ��&�)ߡ�a����z�ޗ���ݢj��w�f
