[U-Boot] U-book and GPLv3? (fwd)

[Haavard Skinnemoen]

Wolfgang Denk wrote:
> In message <20090707135141.7979827c at hskinnemoen-d830> you wrote:
> >
> > While I think fighting for extensible and "hackable" hardware is good,
> > I think a software license is the wrong way to go about it. Let's stick
> > to the proven model of GPLv2: You can use my software if I get to use
> > your improvements. Trying to impose restrictions on this model in order  
> 
> The point is that GPLv2 results in situations where  you  cannot  use
> and modify your own software any more because it is "protected" and
> any versions you build don't run.

But this is a problem with the _hardware_, not the software. I think
placing restrictions on the hardware design is way outside the scope of
a software license.

Even if the hardware is restricted this way, you can still take the
software, modify it, and run it on a different, better piece of
hardware. If you play your cards right, you might even come out with a
healthy profit as people see that your product based on unrestricted
hardware is simply _better_ (which is a term I think covers "more free"
as well.)

In my experience, the most popular AVR-based boards are the ones that
not only allow the firmware to be replaced freely, but which actively
encourage modification by making lots of signals available through
expansion headers. This kind of "hackability" can never be enforced
through any kind of software license.

Haavard