Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 12:20:10 +0200 From: Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in> To: chat@freebsd.org Subject: IPFilter not free software? Message-ID: <20010524122010.C52234@lpt.ens.fr>
next in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
I came across this on http://lwn.net/2001/0524/index.php3 Reactions? IPFilter is the firewalling system used in FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD; it provides many of the same features as the Linux "netfilter" package. The IPFilter code is copyrighted by Darren Reed, and has long carried the following license text: Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted provided that this notice is preserved and due credit is given to the original author and the contributors. A recent update, however, has added the following: Yes, this means that derivitive or modified works are not permitted without the author's prior consent. That means, of course, that IPFilter is not free (or even open source) software. Mr. Reed claims that this is not a license change, that the IPFilter license has never allowed the modification of the code. This, of course, has come as a surprise to some users, who had assumed that an important part of BSD would be distributed under the BSD license. It is also not surprising that, in a free software climate, people might interpret "use" to include modification. This is not a theoretical issue. OpenBSD distributes a modified version of IPFilter; the modifications, they say, are needed to make IPFilter work properly with their system. OpenBSD leader Theo de Raadt has told us he does not believe the "reinterpretation" of the license is valid. Mr. de Raadt is not known for backing down from confrontations, so an interesting legal situation could develop here. Mr. Reed is unconcerned about potential problems with his license. What if he gets hit by a bus and no longer distributes updates to IPFilter? "I won't care, I'll finally get to RIP." He also refused to answer questions from LWN ("I really don't like Linux"). To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20010524122010.C52234>