Re: [linuxsh-dev] Patch: Boot time configuration of SCI(F) and Overdrive support

[Mitch D. <mj...@au...>]

Stuart Menefy wrote:
> 
> I'm glad my SCI patch caused some discussions!

:-)

> Unfortunately as Pierre-Philippe as not working with SuperH any more,
> I'm reluctant to checkin the board specific changes he made

Yes.  I felt guilty that the patch had not been acted on, since I
think Pierre deserves to see his work bear fruit.  However since
he's acknowledged it wasn't polished, and he's now not working on
it, I don't feel compelled to check in his patch as it stands.

However, I'll shortly be doing some work on the 7707 myself,
and I will be taking his patch and pulling all the good things
out of it, so his work will certainly not be wasted.  Thanks
Pierre!

> So I'll go ahead and check in my changes when I'm next back in work
> (which will be Tuesday now) unless I hear any different.

Just as a matter of practice, if you upload a new version of your
patch to SourceForge, I'm very happy to check it in.  (Remember
that small typo?)

> I'll try and have a look at some of the other ports in the next few
> days and make some proposals for how we could proceed. My colleague is
> adding PCI support for the Overdrive here at the moment, so the number
> of board specific files has mushroomed. So this is an issue we have a
> direct interest in solving!

Cool.

> >> Just a general note to people doing work while in the employ
> >> of companies: To protect yourself, your employer and the Linux
> >> kernel, it might be a good idea to get something signed to say
> >> that your company doesn't regard the code as its intellectual
> >> property.  Saying it's licensed under the GPL can't hurt either.
> 
> Good point. I've started making enquiries about this at ST.  Mitch, I
> thing you mentioned that you'd had to do something similar.

Yes, I arranged for HP to GPL the software to connect PCs to HP
calculators.  (http://www.hpcomm.org).  I got an HP attorney to
agree, then my manager did.

> Did you find the few lines at the end of the GPL sufficient:

I think they are sufficient.  I didn't do it, but it sounds
like a good idea.

> I have a nasty feeling I'm going to need something more to keep the
> lawyers happy, and management won't sign until they are.

Mgmt told me the lawyers had to be happy before they were.  I
had to hunt for a long time before I found a lawyer inside of
HP who specialised in intellectual property, from a free
software perspective.

If I were in the position of advocating the use of Linux within
a product, I think emphasising the intellectual property issues
(esp in terms of "ownership", limitation of liability, support
responsibility, etc) is as important as the technical benefits.

Regards,

Mitch.
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