Re: Microsoft's Linux Kernel Code Drop Result of GPL Violation

[Alexander Terekhov]

Hyman Rosen wrote:
> 
> <http://www.osnews.com/story/21882/Microsoft_s_Linux_Kernel_Code_Drop_Result_of_GPL_Violation>
> <http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=3433>

http://www.h-online.com/open/Microsoft-and-Vyatta-rebutt-reports-of-GPL-violation--/news/113837

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Microsoft and Vyatta rebutt reports of GPL violation

Reports that Microsoft had to release the Hyper-V Linux Integration
Components (LinuxIC) under the GPLv2 because they had violated the GPL
have been rebutted by Microsoft and Vyatta. Vyatta had been referenced
by reports as the source of the accusation.

Microsoft's Sam Ramji has stated that Microsoft's decision to release
the Hyper-V LinuxIC drivers under a GPLv2 licence was "not based on any
perceived obligations tied to the GPLv2". Ramji says that instead it was
because Microsoft determined that it was "beneficial" to them release
under the GPLv2 because it was "the preferred license required by the
Linux community for their broad acceptance and engagement".

Vyatta Vice President Dave Roberts states that neither it, or principal
engineer Stephen Hemminger, have accused Microsoft of GPL violations, as
reported elsewhere. In a blog posting, Roberts says "news stories have
started to circulate that have bordered on putting words into the mouths
of both Vyatta and its employees". Stephen Hemminger had reported that
when investigating the Hyper-V network drivers, part of LinuxIC, he
found a licensing issue; according to a report Hemminger found that
Microsoft's closed source code used a number of interfaces marked
EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL, which marks an interface as only usable by code which
has a GPL compatible interface. 

Hemminger then contacted Greg Kroah-Hartman, who leads the Linux Driver
Project and works at Novell, to see if the issue could be resolved with
Microsoft, given Novell's "(too) close association with Microsoft".
Roberts says "Stephen merely called the situation to Microsoft's
attention" and that Microsoft have made the right decision to open
source the Hyper-V drivers. Hemminger says "once Microsoft was aware of
it, they were eager to resolve" the problem, which he discovered in
March 2009. 
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So it boils down to moronic "accusations" regarding EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL...
no infringement or breach whatsoever.

regards,
alexander.

--
http://gng.z505.com/index.htm 
(GNG is a derecursive recursive derecursion which pwns GNU since it can 
be infinitely looped as GNGNGNGNG...NGNGNG... and can be said backwards 
too, whereas GNU cannot.)