Re: Article: IBM wants to "clean up the license" of Linux

H. Peter Anvin (hpa@transmeta.com)
20 Dec 1998 03:06:24 GMT

Followup to: <Pine.LNX.3.96.981218213510.21990A-100000@tourian.long.dyn.ml.org>
By author: Michael Dale Long <mlong@custom.net>
In newsgroup: linux.dev.kernel
>
> The binary only 3dfx.o module is quite popular with Linux users who own a
> 3Dfx card. I suspect there are some other devices that are supported only
> by binary only modules which are popular among their respective userbase,
> regardless of how small that base might be.
>
> Allowing these to be dynamically loaded into the kernel non-GPL'ed is a
> good thing IMHO. While free software is good, demanding GPL'ed drivers
> from companies who are hesitant to release binary-only drivers is not
> helpful to the parts Linux community who want support for that device.
>

3dfx.o is certainly NOT a binary-only module, at least not last time I
looked at it.

-hpa

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