Originally posted by tuco You don't need to link me that license. Like I said, I installed Linux in 1994 and used it for quite a while and work with Linux at work. The corporate Lawyers are always a factor with our work.
You have to distribute binary blobs if you what to keep things to yourself with Linux and now no one can do a code review of that work.
The same as you would have to do with any other operating system. Right?
Originally posted by tuco And no open source distribution of Linux or *BSD can ship with support for proprietary files or codecs. They get around that legal issue by making you set the repository for updates and downloads to some sort of "restricted" location and pass the burden of being in compliance with legal laws in your country onto you.
Yes the situation with DVD playback is murky, to say the least. At the moment people that want to view DVD movies have to install a library called libdvdcss (I know you know, but for the benefit of others who may be interested). This method is authorized in France by a law decision on interoperability.
Détail d'une jurisprudence administrative
in the US the situation is uncertain. While you are right about the DMCA, in practice, no one wants to open the can of worms of litigation. As it is, the copy right office is already reviewing the DVD encryption situation.
U.S. Copyright Office - Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies
It is a fair use issue really.
Originally posted by tuco Having had to administer Linux, I find the *BSD systems are so much cleaner than Linux's jumbled mess and you don't need to be a lawyer to create derivative work form any of that code.
I am sure BSD systems are nice to administer, but I have no problem administering the Linux systems of the company I work for. In fact, it is downright easy. And as for creating derivative works, I don't see the point of wanting to keep them secret. If I make an enhancement of fix a bug to part of the system, I would want my change to be incorporated in the upstream repository so that I don't have to fix it again when the next version comes. If you want to keep it secret in order to sell it, well, then I guess you are right. But, if I am not mistaken, most BSD distributions contain at least some GPL code too. So, you would still have to take a peak at what the license is.