Fedora Freedom and linux-libre

[Les Mikesell]

Alexandre Oliva wrote:
> On Jun  9, 2008, Les Mikesell <lesmikesell at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Firmware that happens to be aggregated for convenient delivery and
>> installation is no more a part of the GPL'd work than firmware that is
>> already in your machine
> 
> That's missing the point.

No, it _is_ the point.

> It's not so much about the firmware, it's
> about the GPLed work that depends on it.

The GPL'd part doesn't depend any more or less on it whether it is 
loaded on the fly or already there in ROM - or you've updated the 
contents some other way.

> If you can't "just take the
> firmware out", and there's no way to obtain the GPL'ed
> allegedly-separate work, how could the claim of 'mere aggregation'
> hold any water?  Aggregation of what separate works?  Where are they?

You do have access to all of the parts and the freedom to split them up 
any way you want.  What's stopping you?

>> No, the GPL applies to components that actually are parts of a work as
>> whole or derivatives.  Firmware is something separate, just carried
>> along for the ride.
> 
> No, your honor, this is not a book that I printed for sale.  It's just
> a bunch of pages from unrelated works that I stapled/bound together in
> large quantities and offered to book retailers in exchange for pieces
> of paper of a different color.

Exactly.  If such aggregations weren't permitted and perfectly normal 
when you meet the terms of each component separately, we probably 
wouldn't have had any anthologies to read for homework in school.

-- 
   Les Mikesell
     lesmikesell at gmail.com