[iPAQ] Re:strongarm usb networking and Windows. (Nick Bane)

Ok, it looks like we cannot distribute a GPL MS USB SDK driver explicitly
for use with Linux and if we make such a generic driver it must not be
connected to Linux by an end user. Could it be made for connection to a
proprietary box that uses the same protocol used by Linux? Could the license
be sharware of the style £0.00001/century to be collected at the end of the
term for example? Could the license require that the user makes an
unspecified donation to the OSF? I assume this why there is no existing
driver. I quite follow that they don't want all of Windows to become subject
to GPL as a derivative work if someone builds such a driver. However, there
exists networking over USB hardware supported by both M$ and Linux (I
think). How do they get round it?

Maybe one could avoid the use of the SDK in all this and do it using a
knowledge of the underlying architecture. Does anyone out there know if this
is a possibility?

Another point to ponder is that someone may have to pay a
Device/Manufacturer ID tax to the USB consortium.

Nick Bane

----- Original Message -----
> So, we need someone who knows how to write windows network drivers to see
> if something can be put together easily, say from the MS USB SDK. Only
> problem there is the EULA for downloading it says you can't use it to
build
> software that works with Linux or other Publicly Available Software -
> seriously, it calls out the GPL, and other Open Source licenses.
>
> Ross
>
>
Received on Fri Feb 15 01:10:14 2002