Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 21:24:56 +0200 From: Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de> To: jd1008 <jd1008@gmail.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Microsoft Now OpenBSD Foundation Gold Contributor Message-ID: <20150710212456.70c0d1db.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <55A00F43.90908@gmail.com> References: <BLU437-SMTP2B8F14BE7B4D30D13EC96809F0@phx.gbl> <559FF775.7030204@mgm51.com> <33650.128.135.70.2.1436549147.squirrel@cosmo.uchicago.edu> <55A00F43.90908@gmail.com>
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On Fri, 10 Jul 2015 12:30:27 -0600, jd1008 wrote: > A friend of mine commented about this to me: > > "[...] > I've always wondered whether consumer hardware / embedded devices would > start migrating over to BSD, since GPL compliance is such a hassle for > many vendors. Obviously Android went this way several years ago." Due to the licensing terms of the BSDL, we will never really find out how many embedded devices (routers, home alarm systems, crypto applicances, entertainment solutions and so on) already contain a BSD operating system at their heart. The vendor is not forced to tell anyone that they're using a BSD, and they do not make their source code public. It can therefore contain backdoors, spyware, and other means of invading user privacy. Unlike the GPL which somewhat requires "contributing back", the BSDL does not do so. So it's a perfectly viable basis for building a closed-source product that caters the government, the security organisations and the "market" more than its buyers and users. -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...
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