66 lines
3.1 KiB
Text
66 lines
3.1 KiB
Text
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$NetBSD: README,v 1.1 2010/04/01 14:13:25 reed Exp $
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The code within the src/external/gplv3 directories may have serious
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legal impacts if you are a company and redistributing or changing
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this code (as a company holding patents). We recommend you contact
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your lawyer before using it.
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Please do not import new GPLv3 projects without Board approval.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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Statement for The NetBSD Foundation's Position on the GPLv3
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NetBSD provides source code with the goal for anyone to be able
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to use it for whatever they want, as long as they follow the simple
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licensing terms. Historically, most of the original code used
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Berkeley-style licensing and NetBSD's own code uses a simple
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two-clause Berkeley-style license. To summarize: modifications are
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allowed, the source code may be redistributed and the binaries (or
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executables) may be distributed as long as the copyright and
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disclaimer is included. NetBSD's code may be extended and sold
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without sharing back the source code changes.
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NetBSD also uses and redistributes source code and binaries from
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source code obtained from external third parties. This source code
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is segregated by placing it in the src/external and sys/src/external
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directories which are categorized per license. Examples of this
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include: ISC BIND, Solaris ZFS, CVS, GNU Binutils, Postfix, X.org
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X Windowing System, and other software that are primarily maintained
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outside of NetBSD.
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In some cases, the third-party software is licensed under terms
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that conflict with NetBSD's own goals. For example, the GPLv2 is
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a "copyleft" license -- it requires that anyone who distributes
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executable or object code based on the source code, also make the
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source code and modifications available to the public. (NetBSD's
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own code doesn't require companies to share their changes.)
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The GPLv3 (GNU General Public License Version 3) includes clauses
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that may cause additional burdens to developers or companies who
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may modify the source code or ship products based on the source
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code. The following summarizes some of these issues:
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- The license allows the user to circumvent measures preventing
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software changes (#3). This is known as the Tivoization clause.
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In addition, this same clause is an anti-DRM, anti-DMCA clause --
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as the developer allows the end-user to attempt to circumvent or
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break the technological protection measures. Also, any information
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or authorization keys required to install or run modified versions
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must also be provided (#6).
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- The patent clause (#11) says the copyright holders grant a
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non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free patent license. You may be
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required to extend the royalty-free patent license(s) to all
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recipients or future users and developers who use the code. In
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addition, you may not initiate litigation for a patent infringement
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(#10).
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We recommend companies redistributing GPLv3 licensed code to
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consult their lawyer before using it.
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It is the intent of the NetBSD project to use as little GPL licensed
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software as possible to provide maximum freedom for development
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and distribution of NetBSD derived products.
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