Re: [RFC v2] MEDIA: Driver for ON Semi AR0521 camera sensor

From: Laurent Pinchart
Date: Wed Jun 23 2021 - 09:18:10 EST


On Wed, Jun 23, 2021 at 07:28:11AM +0200, Krzysztof Hałasa wrote:
> Laurent Pinchart writes:
>
> > How does a lack of an SoB line prevent someone from doing exactly what
> > you've described above ?
>
> The work is not published under GPL.

I only review kernel code covered by the GPL, sorry :-) (And stating
that a kernel driver isn't covered by the GPL is at the very least a
very grey area, as it's widely understoof that drivers developed
specifically for Linux are derivative work of the kernel)

> > Maintainers usually understand these issues. They may fail to notice,
> > but if you point out a patch that would steal your work, that would
> > prevent it from being merged.
>
> I'd like to believe this as well. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like
> that. See the "tw686x" (an SD TV frame grabber) case.
> I didn't even request that the other driver wasn't merged. I only wanted
> it as a patch on top of the original one - so the history could be
> visible.

Mauro, any comment on that ?

--
Regards,

Laurent Pinchart