From owner-freebsd-bugs@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Dec 13 18:30:37 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-bugs@hub.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4060F16A4CF for ; Mon, 13 Dec 2004 18:30:37 +0000 (GMT) Received: from freefall.freebsd.org (freefall.freebsd.org [216.136.204.21]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 26D1243D45 for ; Mon, 13 Dec 2004 18:30:37 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from gnats@FreeBSD.org) Received: from freefall.freebsd.org (gnats@localhost [127.0.0.1]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id iBDIUbts036442 for ; Mon, 13 Dec 2004 18:30:37 GMT (envelope-from gnats@freefall.freebsd.org) Received: (from gnats@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.13.1/8.13.1/Submit) id iBDIUaYK036439; Mon, 13 Dec 2004 18:30:36 GMT (envelope-from gnats) Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 18:30:36 GMT Message-Id: <200412131830.iBDIUaYK036439@freefall.freebsd.org> To: freebsd-bugs@FreeBSD.org From: Yar Tikhiy Subject: Re: kern/74861: Support to ISL VLANS? X-BeenThere: freebsd-bugs@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: Yar Tikhiy List-Id: Bug reports List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 18:30:37 -0000 The following reply was made to PR kern/74861; it has been noted by GNATS. From: Yar Tikhiy To: Josef Karthauser Cc: freebsd-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: kern/74861: Support to ISL VLANS? Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 21:22:25 +0300 On Mon, Dec 13, 2004 at 03:18:31PM +0000, Josef Karthauser wrote: > On Mon, Dec 13, 2004 at 05:22:05PM +0300, Yar Tikhiy wrote: > > I'm afraid that this PR is doomed. 5 years ago I worked for an > > academic network operations centre, where we ran ISL in FreeBSD > > using a homebrew implementation based on vlan(4). Later, after I > > had got my commit bit, I wrote a mail to Cisco asking if they would > > like to relicense the ISL spec so that it could be implemented in > > open-source products. I got an apparently negative reply. > > > > I still have working ISL code, but alas, I cannot make it public > > due to restrictive nature of Cisco's license on ISL. > > I don't know where this code came from exactly, but Joe suggested that > it was open sourced... That said perhaps it doesn't matter now with > 802.1Q in common usage. The code from Joe Marcus Clarke looks like a protocol dissector for some kind of a network sniffer while I've got an if_isl driver working in 4-STABLE. However, it may not be included into FreeBSD for licensing reasons I described. The very ISL _specification_ is under a restrictive license by Cisco, not code implementing it. On the one hand, I doubt that Cisco would sue a network sniffer project for including an ISL dissector, but on the other hand, we would be asking for legal trouble if we added if_isl to FreeBSD since it would be a real application of the encumbered protocol. There were enough license wars in the nearest past out there. Taking this into consideration, I think this PR can be closed. -- Yar