S.J. Borrill
> 
> On Mon, 23 Mar 1998, Matthew Wilcox wrote:
> 
> > S.J. Borrill
> > > 
> > > I see there is a patch for Acorn CDs for Linux (see below). Any plans for
> > > NetBSD to incorporate such a thing?
> > 
> > I probably ought to point out that this code is covered by the GPL which
> > is not compatible with the NetBSD licence.  If certain individuals can
> > start playing games with licence conditions then so can I.
> 
> That's probably true, but given what the patch actually does, and the
> differences between NetBSD and Linux kernel sources, the only common code
> is likely to be something like "if (*name=='_') *name=='!';". Unless the
> concept (but sharing no common code) is covered by the GPL.

The whole issue of copyright is very complicated and the situation with
respect to reverse engineering even more so.  GNU's guidelines to writing
code suggest that one should not write code if one is aware of the inner
workings of a competing product.  Wouldn't it simply have been easier to
_ask_ me if I was willing to donate the code rather than trying to take
it?

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