This is the mail archive of the crossgcc@cygnus.com mailing list for the crossgcc project.
Index Nav: | [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index] | |
---|---|---|
Message Nav: | [Date Prev] [Date Next] | [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] |
rj@eli.elilabs.com said: > Not true. You have been listening to the lawyaers, when they should > retain your services as expert and listen to you! They know law, but > they do not know the technology. You must educate them in the > technology so they can advise you as to how the law might be applied > to it, and what your best course of action should be. I said it was pushing the envelope, but not outside it. Yes I agree that strictly speaking it is legitimate to do as you say, but as Joel pointed out it is not exactly practical in the litigious society we live in. rj@eli.elilabs.com said: > The prefered form of the work means the form prefered by "those > skilled in the art", which means other software engineers, not > necessarily the end user. So what does that mean if I do not also make available schematics available for the whole product? My experience (and I am reasonably skilled in the art) is that software is useless without some knowledge of the hardware running it. So am I complying with the GPL even though I am not supplying enough information for another programmer to make informed changes? With a standard computer, i.e. a UNIX workstation, I can answer this question, but it is not at all clear where this boundary lies when I write a program for X Motor Inc.'s spark control computer. Frankly, the source code is not in general something that even another programmer can make sense of without access to applicable details of the hardware. A lot of this is implicit when talking about UNIX programs or PC software. OK so maybe this is a big maybe, but neither Joel nor I are going to be the poor souls who establish the requisite case law for the rest of you. So forget all this. I provide all the software for my VCR board. This board has a special 68ec0X0 with special VCR controls and a mask ROM on a chip. You get a floppy with the unit, and enough information that you can do whatever to damn well please. But, I will not sell you the chip with the mask and the 68x00 core because I need all of them. Besides, you really expect me to make chips for you with the masks you desire? Hah! So am I complying with the GPL? Maybe, maybe not. You tell me. I am a proponent of the GPL process, I have configured emacs to put the GPL notice in every new C/C++ file I create. However, there are limits. Incidentally, I don't know any lawyers personally. I don't listen to them because they don't talk to me. -- Steve Williams steve@icarus.com steve@picturel.com "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And lines to code before I sleep, And lines to code before I sleep."