On Sat, Sep 01, 2007 at 08:36:24PM -0400, Jason Dixon wrote:
> On Sep 1, 2007, at 5:52 PM, Adrian Bunk wrote:
>
>> OK, I begin to understand this, there seem to be three different types
>> of files changed by Jiri's patch:
>> 1. dual licenced files planned to make GPL-only
>> 2. previously dual licenced files with a too recent version used planned
>> to make GPL-only
>> 3. never dual licenced files planned to make GPL-only
>>
>> For files under 1. and 2. Reyk did contribute to dual licenced code
>> without touching the licence, but I missed that there's also code unter 3.
>>
>> So there is a problem, but not with the code under 1. (unless you plan
>> to change the semantics of the word "alternatively"), the problem is
>> with some headers under 2. plus the code under 3.
>
> The BSD license plainly states:
>
> "Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any
> purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
> copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies."
>
> Once the grantor (Reyk) releases his code under that license, it must
> remain. You are free to derive work and redistribute under your license,
> but the original copyright and license permission remains intact. Many
> other entities (Microsoft, Apple, Sun, etc) have used BSD code and have no
> problem understanding this. Why is this so difficult for the Linux brain
> share to absorb?
>
> As a former Linux advocate and current OpenBSD user/developer, I'm appalled
> that fellow open-source developers would see fit to cavalierly disregard
> the rights of the original copyright holder. You wield the GPL when it
> suits you, and trample the courtesies of non-GPL developers just because
> you [think you] can. As bad as Jiri's offense was, it pales to the
> impudence displayed by Alan Cox, one of the so-called defenders of free
> software.
>
> Shame on you all.
Jiri's patch would have wrongly not only removed the BSD statement from
dual licenced files but also from not dual licenced files.
This was a mistake in this patch (that was never merged into the tree)
neither Jiri nor Alan noticed.
The only disagreement is about the following:
Theo claimed boldly in the email that started this thread on
linux-kernel it would "break the law" to choose one licence for dual
licenced code like the following:
/* $OpenBSD: ath.c,v 1.63 2007/05/09 16:41:14 reyk Exp $ */
/* $NetBSD: ath.c,v 1.37 2004/08/18 21:59:39 dyoung Exp $ */
/*-
* Copyright (c) 2002-2004 Sam Leffler, Errno Consulting
* All rights reserved.
*
* Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
* modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
* are met:
* 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
* notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer,
* without modification.
* 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce at minimum a disclaimer
* similar to the "NO WARRANTY" disclaimer below ("Disclaimer") and any
* redistribution must be conditioned upon including a substantially
* similar Disclaimer requirement for further binary redistribution.
* 3. Neither the names of the above-listed copyright holders nor the names
* of any contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
* from this software without specific prior written permission.
*
* Alternatively, this software may be distributed under the terms of the
* GNU General Public License ("GPL") version 2 as published by the Free
* Software Foundation.
*
* NO WARRANTY
* THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
* ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
* LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTIBILITY
* AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL
* THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY,
* OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
* SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
* INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER
* IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
* ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF
* THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
*/
> Jason Dixon
cu
Adrian
--
"Is there not promise of rain?" Ling Tan asked suddenly out
of the darkness. There had been need of rain for many days.
"Only a promise," Lao Er said.
Pearl S. Buck - Dragon Seed
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-wireless" in
the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
