Re: [ECOS] APB - Copyright assignment

[Alex Schuilenburg <alexs@ecoscentric.com>]

Øyvind Harboe wrote on 2009-10-06 15:30:
> Of course copyright assignment has nothing to do with
> eCos as such. The same problem exists with *any* code
> you include.
>   
Of course!

> In fact eCos CVS contains lots of code where
> FSF does not hold the copyright. jim tcl for starters but
> I'm sure there's lots more.
>   
How about all the BSD tcpip, lwip code etc?

The point I was making is that all the licenses of the code in the eCos
repository has been determined to be compatible with the eCos GPL+ex
license, and can be attributed to a source.  Anyone can download and use
the code in their product in the relative security that the code they
are using has proper attribution and will not result in their
application becoming GPL or subject to some law suit.  The maintainers
have worked hard to ensure that no pure GPL code becomes part of the
repository.  Sure, some GPL code is distributed separately but that code
correctly has the necessary warnings so the user is aware what their
responsibilities are and is not part of the mainstream distribution.

The introduction of non-attributed code into an eCos distribution where
the licensing, origins etc are uncertain starts to defeat what the
maintainers and indeed eCosCentric have strived to maintain.  The risk
is that if any unattributed code turns out to be sour, you end up
damaging the goodwill that has been built up around eCos in this
regard.  Hence why you need to be careful what you introduce into a
public distribution of eCos.

You cannot start to make small exceptions either as that simply becomes
the thin edge of the wedge...

Of course anybody building a product using eCos is not actually building
an eCos distribution.  They can do what they want with the code they use
as long as they adhere to the respective licensing the code falls under.
The risks of assembling code from arbitrary sources should then be
understood by the developer and are then entirely of their own choosing.

This is why it is important to maintain FSF assignment for the official
eCos distribution - so that the code can both be attributed and
defended, and any of the FUD spread by M$ et al thrown into the bin
where it belongs...

We encounter this kind of FUD with our customers all the time when they
are thinking of using eCos over some other closed or proprietary RTOS,
and it is a lot easier to persuade someone to chose eCos with the
assignments in place.

-- Alex Schuilenburg

       >>>> Visit us at ESC-UK  http://www.embedded.co.uk <<<<
       >>>> Oct 7-8 on Stand 433 at FIVE ISC, Farnborough <<<<


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