[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > On Wed, 20 Jun 2007, Michael Poole wrote: > >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: >> >>> this is very much NOT true. if you take the source the provide you can >>> compile a kernel that will run on the tivo, the only thing you have to >>> do (on some models) is to change the bios to skip the step that checks >>> if the kernel has been tampered with. >> >> If we are opining whether Tivo provided complete source code for their >> Linux kernel images, the requirement to change non-GPLed software as a >> condition to exercise GPL-protected rights speaks for itself. > > no, the GPL protected rights don't say anything about the hardware the > system runs on. > > you are saying that the GPL now controls what the BIOS software is > allowed to do or not allowed to do.
Please retract that claim. I have said no such thing, and have avoided saying anything that I thought might be misconstrued in that direction. To be absolutely clear: My complaints with Tivo as a hardware or BIOS vendor are moral and pragmatic, not legal. My complaint with Tivo as a distributor of Linux is what hinges on legal issues. > that's a seperate body of code that is in no way derived from the > linux kernel (even the anti-tampering functions would work equally > well with other Operating systems and are in no way linux > specific). it's no even loaded on the same media (the BIOS is in > flash/rom on the botherboard, the OS is on the hard drive) > > and note that the software that is checked to make sure that it hasn't > been changed includes much more then the kernel. it checks the kernel > and the initrd. Not legally relevant. >> Out of curiosity, what do you have to do on models besides those? Are >> newer models more or less restrictive in what they run? If newer >> models are more restrictive, I think that also speaks to whether Tivo >> thinks it is conveying complete source code. > > newer models do tend to be more restrictive, but they also tend to > connect to more propriatary networks (satellite or cable) What they connect to is also not relevant. That imples that because a vendor has been issued or licensed patents, they are not obliged to follow the GPL -- that the vendor has other obligations that supercede the GPL's license claims. GPL section 7 addresses that situation. Michael Poole - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
