Re: Linux v2.6.9 and GPL Buyout

[Ramón Rey Vicente]

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Jeff V. Merkey wrote:

| On a side note, the GPL buyout previously offered has been modified. We
| will be contacting
| individual contributors and negotiating with each copyright holder for
| the code we wish to
| convert on a case by case basis. The remaining portions of code will
| remain GPL

BSD "revisited" license is GPL-compatible, but

http://www.fsf.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#MereAggregation

Mere aggregation of two programs means putting them side by side on the
same CD-ROM or hard disk. We use this term in the case where they are
separate programs, not parts of a single program. In this case, if one
of the programs is covered by the GPL, it has no effect on the other
program.

Combining two modules means connecting them together so that they form a
single larger program. If either part is covered by the GPL, the whole
combination must also be released under the GPL--if you can't, or won't,
do that, you may not combine them.

What constitutes combining two parts into one program? This is a legal
question, which ultimately judges will decide. We believe that a proper
criterion depends both on the mechanism of communication (exec, pipes,
rpc, function calls within a shared address space, etc.) and the
semantics of the communication (what kinds of information are interchanged).

If the modules are included in the same executable file, they are
definitely combined in one program. If modules are designed to run
linked together in a shared address space, that almost surely means
combining them into one program.

By contrast, pipes, sockets and command-line arguments are communication
mechanisms normally used between two separate programs. So when they are
used for communication, the modules normally are separate programs. But
if the semantics of the communication are intimate enough, exchanging
complex internal data structures, that too could be a basis to consider
the two parts as combined into a larger program.
- --
Ram?n Rey Vicente <ramon.rey en hispalinux.es>
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