Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Tue, 26 Feb 2019 17:24:42 -0500
From:      Shawn Webb <shawn.webb@hardenedbsd.org>
To:        Warner Losh <imp@bsdimp.com>
Cc:        "Rodney W. Grimes" <rgrimes@freebsd.org>, "K. Macy" <kmacy@freebsd.org>, svn-src-head@freebsd.org, Matt Macy <mmacy@freebsd.org>, svn-src-all@freebsd.org, Brooks Davis <brooks@freebsd.org>, src-committers <src-committers@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: svn commit: r344487 - in head/sys: conf gnu/gcov
Message-ID:  <20190226222442.s6u3a637svhn6dn6@mutt-hbsd>
In-Reply-To: <CANCZdfqwhuK-9b5DhyUhPeUydTmexy0LxsgmMK__MXG%2Bf-%2BmGA@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <CAHM0Q_NetD%2BbGqtEYEBj0PKEH-G7VuOaTyFH_wdqZHJG5B7FCg@mail.gmail.com> <201902260218.x1Q2Ig4r042692@pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net> <20190226154535.q32nwf6xyupexkta@mutt-hbsd> <CANCZdfqwhuK-9b5DhyUhPeUydTmexy0LxsgmMK__MXG%2Bf-%2BmGA@mail.gmail.com>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help

--whlngj6bhwz26t74
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

On Tue, Feb 26, 2019 at 10:18:45AM -0700, Warner Losh wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 26, 2019 at 8:46 AM Shawn Webb <shawn.webb@hardenedbsd.org>
> wrote:
>=20
> > On Mon, Feb 25, 2019 at 06:18:42PM -0800, Rodney W. Grimes wrote:
> > > > > The modest increase in activation energy for that task seems wort=
h it
> > > > > for the short-term gains of reduced integration cost (this code w=
ill
> > > > > greatly improve our ZFS-on-Linux test coverage.)
> > > > >
> > > > > Rod rightly points out that we haven't accepted SPDX tags alone as
> > > > > license statements.  The standard GPL v2.0 boiler plate should be
> > added
> > > > > to this file along side the tag.
> > > >
> > > > I've copied the full copyright attribution that is in the
> > > > corresponding files on Linux. Is there some reason why FreeBSD
> > > > requires the files to be inflated with the full license text where =
the
> > > > original lacks it?
> > >
> > > I think for a few reasons, I doubt you copied the whole distribution
> > > that this file came from, as I am sure that distribution included
> > > a LICENSE file.  Second if you actually read the GPL v2 documentation
> > > and follow what it says it says you must do this, just because some
> > > one else does not follow the rules of what the GPL v2 says does not
> > > give us to knowingling not do it.  Third this is a particular dangeri=
ous
> > > area for BSD to be mixing a GPL code with its kernel, to my knowlege
> > > we have never had any gpl code in the kernel, no have we ever
> > > allowed it, but thats a seperate argument, that should be made.
> >
> > Would the arm64 DTS/DTB files count as "GPL code in the kernel?"
> >
>=20
> No. dts gets compiled into dtb. dtb is a separate work loaded by the boot
> loader. While one can compile it into the kernel, we don't ship like that.
>=20
> There's also a question as to whether or not these files are text
> representation of the hardware, and there being only one way to represent
> it (making it not copyrightable under at least US case law since it's a
> database). That question hasn't been litigated. Many hardware companies
> also dual license the dts. Since we're not incorporating it into the
> kernel, but merely using it as a standardized table (there's a separate
> group that controls the dts/dtb spec), I think we're safe from that angle
> as well.
>=20
> There's benefit from having it in-tree because the version of the spec
> evolves over time, and having the right version makes it harder to push
> this off into a port. Also, having them in-tree makes the project's
> compliance with GPL a no-op because it's all there in the open in a tagged
> VCS.
>=20
> tl;dr: I don't think this is an issue.

Awesome. Thanks for the clarification. I'm now curious if this is
documented outside of random emails in svn-src-all@. I'm 100% sure I'm
not the only one who needed clarification on DTS/DTB licensing,
especially in the context of FreeBSD.

>=20
>=20
> > I, too, would like less GPL in project, both in userland in kernel.
> > But, I can understand the desire for gcov. Note that I'm not
> > advocating either way that FreeBSD perform an action. ;)
> >
>=20
> Given this is for TEST kernels, there's no issue here.  While we'd like to
> be GPL free, let's not cut off our nose to spite our face. Given the
> interactions between different bits, the FreeBSD selling point of "well
> integrated" I think trumps the purity arguments because it's not code
> anybody would ever ship (and if they did, they'd get the proper warnings).

Thanks,

--=20
Shawn Webb
Cofounder and Security Engineer
HardenedBSD

Tor-ified Signal:    +1 443-546-8752
Tor+XMPP+OTR:        lattera@is.a.hacker.sx
GPG Key ID:          0x6A84658F52456EEE
GPG Key Fingerprint: 2ABA B6BD EF6A F486 BE89  3D9E 6A84 658F 5245 6EEE

--whlngj6bhwz26t74
Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc"

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
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=XmA/
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--whlngj6bhwz26t74--



Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20190226222442.s6u3a637svhn6dn6>