[Fedora-legal-list] NVIDIA license

[Michel Salim]

On Tue, Jun 17, 2008 at 3:37 AM, Mamoru Tasaka
<mtasaka at ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp> wrote:
> Hello, again:
>
> Tom "spot" Callaway wrote, at 06/15/2008 04:06 AM +9:00:
>> On Sun, 2008-06-15 at 03:36 +0900, Mamoru Tasaka wrote:
>>> Hello, all:
>>>
>>> Now I am trying to review rsssserver (bug 450409).
>>> First I checked the license issue of this package, then I found some of the codes
>>> are licensed under the below:
>>>
>>> /*********************************************************************NVMH1****
>>> File:
>>> nv_algebra.h
>>>
>>> Copyright (C) 1999, 2002 NVIDIA Corporation
>>> This file is provided without support, instruction, or implied warranty of any
>>> kind.  NVIDIA makes no guarantee of its fitness for a particular purpose and is
>>> not liable under any circumstances for any damages or loss whatsoever arising
>>> from the use or inability to use this file or items derived from it.
>>
>> This isn't really a license, there is no permission to use, copy,
>> modify, or redistribute. I know you're not going to like this answer,
>> but someone is going to need to contact the copyright holder (NVIDIA
>> Corp) to ask them if they will grant permission to use, copy, modify,
>> and redistribute this source.
>>
>> As-is, non-free.
>>
>> ~spot
>
> The submitter replied to me that the upstream replied to him that the
> relevant codes are actually licensed under the following:
>
> http://developer.download.nvidia.com/licenses/general_license.txt
>
> I am very unsure if we can treat this as free. Would you judge this license?
>
IANAL, but if the only items that fall under the license are header
files, then  the object code / art assets provisions surely does not
apply (unless the binary is considered the "Object Code version", as
opposed to the "Object Code derivative")

Not sure what the government-related provisions entail, though.

Regards,

-- 
Michel Salim
http://hircus.jaiku.com/