Question about GPL & closed source drivers
Can Linux DVB project drivers derived from non-GPL closed source SDKs be distributed in binary form only legally? It seems most if not all of Linux-DVB is standard GPL. And if that requires driver source to be GPL'd as well, it seems like it closes the Linux community off a bit from companies wanting to provide driver support to Linux while still keeping trade secrets protected.
-Alan
_______________________________________________
linux-dvb mailing list
[email protected]
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linux-dvb
Quoted 7 lines · [email protected] wrote:
Can Linux DVB project drivers derived from non-GPL closed source SDKs be distributed in binary form only legally? It seems most if not all of Linux-DVB is standard GPL. And if that requires driver source to be GPL'd as well, it seems like it closes the Linux community off a bit from companies wanting to provide driver support to Linux while still keeping trade secrets protected.
Correct.
See this: http://kerneltrap.org/node/1735
However, in most cases, the tv card vendors who don't provide open source drivers, or don't assist the community in building open source drivers are losing sales to their competitors.
- Steve
_______________________________________________
linux-dvb mailing list
[email protected]
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linux-dvb