Re: [Etherboot-developers] Q: GPL license clarification.

[<ke...@us...>]

>> Such a clarification seems reasonable to me.
>
>I agree.  If world domination is a goal, bios vendors need to be comfortable 
>that they are not going to accidentally GPL their code.
> 
>> The GPL does place certain other responsibilities on a vendor wishing 
>> to distribute software that has been placed under the GPL. The 
>> provision about making the source code available comes to mind. It is 
>> not difficult to fulfill, but adds some overhead to using GPL software.
>
>Really, this is the most important point.  If a vendor makes use of etherboot
> with some modifications to suit their needs and does not make those changes 
>available, there will be problems.  As long as one can download the source an
>d reproduce the compiled eb rom that is being distributed the vendor should b
>e OK.

I'm in violent agreement with this thread. As it happens, the docs need
updating for 5.2. If someone would like to draft the appropriate
paragraphs and run it past this list first I'll be happy to insert it
into the 5.2 user guide. If you're game to edit Docbook please feel free
to do that too.

Essentially the words we need are:

Clarification of user rights and responsibilities conferred by the GPL
as applied to Etherboot, to wit: Etherboot is a separate work from the
BIOS; and that if they modify Etherboot, they have to distribute source
with binary (and gain cred with the OSS world as a result). And a
disclaimer that they should seek legal advice of their own re the GPL
since WANLs.