[ewg] OFA EWG Meeting: Monday, Jan 23, 2017, 09:00 AM US Pacific Time (12pm EST) - Minutes

[Coulter, Susan K]

Unfortunately we do not yet have a complete answer.

Below is the email from the RH lawyer, which was displayed during the XWG meeting, and briefly discussed.

We will be clarifying:
	- his comments about GPLv2 (that being - he means GPL only, not dual license)
	- his reference to GPL (that being - he means GPLv2, as clarified above)
	- since the GPL files are all in the kernel, does user space remain un-tainted and therefore dual license
	- understand what more detail he needs to answer completely

Once we feel comfortable with the full response, we will ask the OFA lawyer to confer/confirm since he is paid to represent us, and Richard is not.

>> OFED is distributed as a source tarball - that tarball includes
>> a
>> small number files that are GPL only.
>> Those GPL only files are all part of the rdma subsystem in the
>> kernel.
>> A few of those GPL only files are >required< to build a
>> functioning
>> OpenFabrics(-based) product.
>> OFED builds the RDMA kernel subsystem code as loadable kernel
>> modules, not statically linked into the kernel.
>> 
>> Q1:  If someone builds OFED for a Linux OS, as downloaded
>> without
>> any added files of their own creation, is the result GPL ?

I think I would need to know more about what OFED consists of to
answer this fully. But I would conclude that any kernelspace parts of
OFED have to be licensed under GPLv2. 

>> Q2:  If someone builds OFED for a Linux OS, including
>> additional
>> files/libraries that are dual licensed - is the result GPL ?

Same answer as above.

>> Q2A:  Does the answer change depending on whether the
>> additional
>> files are source code or binary blobs ?

Same answer as above.

>> Q2B:  Does the answer change depending on whether the dual-
>> licensed 
>> files are built as loadable kernel modules or statically linked
>> into the kernel ?

No, I would not make a distinction along those lines.

>> Q3:  If someone builds OFED for a Linux OS without any of the
>> GPL
>> files, either by removing them from the build process or clean-
>> rooming those files, is the result GPL ?

Probably not, unless there is any other reason why what you're
building is subject to the GPL (for example, suppose in clean-rooming
a file the developer ends up copying some code from some GPL project).

>> Q4:  If someone downloads OFED, changes the kernel files to
>> allow
>> for use by an OS other than Linux and includes the GPL only
>> files
>> as part of the build for that non-Linux OS, is the result GPL ?

I think I'd need more information to answer this (in particular I'd
want to examine these particular kernel files which I haven't done),
but I'd probably conclude that the result should be assumed to be GPL.

Richard


--- 
Richard Fontana
Senior Commercial Counsel
Red Hat

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Susan Coulter / HPC-DES
Network Capability Lead
(505) 667-8425
“Once in a while you get shown the light
    In the strangest of places if you look at it right”  Robert Hunter
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