> Take for example the ActionTec DSL modem, this is sold by ActionTec and
> runs embedded Linux. It is the standard modem Qwest sends out for DSL
> there
> are probably 100,000 or more of these in service in the Western United
> States.
> Yet you cannot obtain the modified GNU code from the ActionTec website
> as required by GPL. Oh sure, you can obtain stuff like iptables from
> ActionTec,
> or thttpd, but not the modified bootloader code or the black box
> interface itself,
> so it makes it impossible to create your own firmware, or modify theirs,
> which
> defeats the purpose of the GPL.
I think you misstate the purpose of the GPL. It is pretty well
understood
in the GPL camp that the GPL is not about any right to use hardware that you
purchased however you want but that it's about the right to use software.
Because their modified GPL'd software *is* available, others who use that
same software can benefit from their changes. That is the purpose of the
GPL.
The GPL is not intended to force open hardware.
The truth is, you can create your own firmware, just not for *their*
hardware. GPL does not infect hardware.
DS
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