[Info-vax] VAFS, GFS2 and the GPL, was: Re: VSI OpenVMS Roadmap: V9.2 is x86-64 only

[Simon Clubley]

On 2020-09-30, Stephane Tougard <stephane at sdf.org> wrote:
> On 2020-09-29, Arne Vajhøj <arne at vajhoej.dk> wrote:
>>> For proof, I refer you to what happened with SCO and the uncertainty
>>> that caused in the Linux community for a while.
>> Well - Linux ended up a lot better than SCO, so that would not be
>> a bad precedence.
>
> There was never any real uncertainty anyway. The claim of SCO was
> indefensible and delusional at best. 
>
> The Debian community worked on the version of the distribution using
> FreeBSD kernel, just in case, but that was, as far as I know, the most
> important side effect.
>
>> Also note that the GFS2 copyright holder Redhat (IBM) is not known
>> for being aggressive with law suits.
>>
>>> That is why VSI need to be very clear about how they intend to integrate
>>> GFS2 into the VMS kernel and they need to do it in a way that the GFS2
>>> copyright holders do not have a problem with.
>
> GFS2 seems to be GPL2, which means that it can not be included inside a
> non free kernel.
>

I've just sent email to VSI asking them how they intend to handle
this problem, since I am no closer to understanding how you can insert
GPL V2 code directly into the VMS kernel in a way that complies with
the GPL V2 licence terms.

I'm assuming VSI have a valid and possibly creative answer. I'm just
no closer to seeing what that answer is.

I'll post a response here if I get a reply.

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.