[U-Boot] API code - licensing

[Rafal Jaworowski]

Dear Wolfgang,

On 2009-07-27, at 09:35, Wolfgang Denk wrote:

> I somehow had developed the impression thatthe API code was  intended
> to  be some "next generation" implementation for standalone programs,
> with  one  of  the  primary  purposes  being  the  implementation  of
> (potentially closed source) bootstrap loader code for FreeBSD.

Yes, the API was meant to be generic and extensible mechanism for  
modern standalone applications, to replace the legacy jumptable  
mechanism at some point. The FreeBSD loader(8) was a successful test  
bed for it, so I surely recommend using the API :-)

> But now I realize that the API code is actually linking against parts
> of the U-Boot code, so any code based on  the  U-Bott  API  must  in-
> herently be GPLed.

The demo application provided in the U-Boot source tree (examples/api)  
indeed re-uses some parts of the U-Boot code (to avoid code  
duplication), but in general this is not a requirement. The FreeBSD  
loader(8) is self-contained and does not include any U-Boot code, it  
just calls the API.

kind regards,
Rafal