Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 03:08:40 -0800 From: Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com> To: Hans Reiser <reiser@namesys.com> Cc: hiten@uk.FreeBSD.org, Chris Mason <mason@suse.com>, Josh MacDonald <jmacd@CS.Berkeley.EDU>, Parity Error <bootup@mail.ru>, freebsd-fs@FreeBSD.ORG, reiserfs-dev@namesys.com Subject: Re: [reiserfs-dev] Re: metadata update durability ordering/soft updates Message-ID: <3C9F0538.B3D00EE2@mindspring.com> References: <20020317225759.82774.qmail@web21109.mail.yahoo.com> <3C95ACBA.4040108@namesys.com> <3C95B838.F8ECE39A@mindspring.com> <3C95C8C3.7080803@namesys.com> <3C966CDF.25A7A379@mindspring.com> <3C9E1D6E.3080604@namesys.com> <3C9E6BEC.B2EB8D86@mindspring.com> <3C9F030A.7040205@namesys.com>
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Hans Reiser wrote: > So, if a vendor (not being hypothetical here) bases a cluster filesystem > on reiserfs, is reiserfs central to the resulting work? > > I think so. I also think that linking or not linking is not determinative. It depends on what you mean by "bases". If you mean they take the ReiserFS source code and modify it to be "ReiserFS + clustering code that works only with Reiserfs becuse it shares code with it", then the answer is yes. If you mean they take a bunch of systems using ReiserFS as their filesystem, and cluster the machines using clustering software that can work with any FS, and it's only coincidental to the deployment that "the systems which are members of the cluseter use ReiserFS", then the answer is "no". If the answer is "yes", then the code is a derivative work. Now do they have to give out their source code? The answer is "not unless they copy and distribute the code". They only have to give out their source code (or an offer of it, valid for 3 years), if they sell, give away, or otherwise distribute the binary software for their clustering software. If they merely sell the use of the cluster (e.g. "Rent web hosting from ``Joe's web hosting'', on our nifty cluster"), then the answer is "no", because they did not "distribute or publish" the code; thus they are not regulated by section 2(b) of the GPL. Now say IBM buys "Joe's web hosting". Then they are distributing the code to IBM. The easy way to deal with this is to make IBM relink the clustering code after the purchase, and not transfer binary copies of the combined program. Thus the code is, again, not distributed, and the non-GPL'ed code linked with it doesn't fall under the GPL. Clause 2(b) clearly limits application of the license to programs which you copy and distribute. Similarly, 3(a), 3(b), and 3(c) also require copying and distribution. Section 3(c) is the most interesting. If you are given GPL'ed source code to a kernel component, and binary code that can be relinked with any coponent, including the GPL'ed kernel component, when you as an end user do the linking, then the resulting binary can not be redistributed, since you, as the user, do not have the source code to the binary portion, and therefore can not comply with section 3 by making available or offering to make available, or repeating a non-existant offer to make available, the source code to the binary portion of the program. Thus you can comply with the letter of the license, but not its spirit. There are at least 6 "direct" loopholes in the license, and another 4 "indirect" loopholes, which I'm aware of to date. The indirect loopholes are questionable, in that a court might not hold their application to be legal (intentional entry into a contract with the intent of non-performance). The license isn't very good at what it was supposedly designed to do... Actually, the Cygnus eCOS license is a much better instrumentality of "The GNU Manifesto" than either the GPL or the LGPL. If you are trying to support "The GNU Manifesto" through your choice of license, you are much, much better off using the eCOS license. -- Terry To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-fs" in the body of the message
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