Peter Cordes wrote: > > On Thu, May 31, 2001 at 08:14:18AM -0600, Pete Willemsen wrote: > > Hi. I'm also very new to Linux on a PPC. Is it expected that these > > newer PPCs with nvidia cards will actually have accelerated graphics > > support via X at some point in the future? For instance, will nvidia be > > release PPC-based Linux drivers? Something like this would solidify my > > purchase of a new G4. > > I was thinking the other day that the GPL should require Nvidia to release > source for their kernel module, if not libGL, etc. The tarball comes with > some GPL source code and a binary file. The build process links the GPL'ed > code and the binary file. You can download an rpm of the resulting linked > file. Since GPLed code is linked in (thus putting the whole thing under the > GPL), and they are distributing binaries, don't they have to distribute the > whole source? > > Note that this is a different argument from saying that binary-only kernel > modules can't be allowed because the GPL (which they must be under to be > linked into the kernel) requires availability of source. > > Nvidia's case is special because they provide precompiled binaries that > come from (partly, and therefore totally) GPL sources, as well as some of > the GPLed source (which is how we know that the code is GPL). They are > trying to have their cake and eat it too, by releasing source for a wrapper > around their main driver, so they only need to compile the binary for a few > popular distributions, and let people with custom kernels do it themselves. > I think it would have worked if the wrapper had been under the X license or > pretty much anything other than the GPL! > > Thanks Nvidia... I think. I hope I'm right about this.
Sorry, they're following exactly Linus' idea of how to distribute binary-only kernel modules. They claim they can't release source or specs even if they wanted because it's not all their intellectual property. -- Earthling Michel Dänzer (MrCooper) \ Debian GNU/Linux (powerpc) developer CS student, Free Software enthusiast \ XFree86 and DRI project member
