> Since NetBSD is available in source form I don't see the obstacle here.
> 
> Of course I'm not a Lawyer, but this is my understanding of the way 
> things work.  I think a lot of people got confused by the restrictions
> on the use of Bison and thought they applied to all GPL'd code.  

The problem is that the GPL (in a nutshell) _requires_ that if you
distribute binaries based on GPL'd sources, you give away all of the
sources used to build your binary.

On the other hand, the goal of NetBSD is to provide a working system
that people can use to build commercial systems, _without_ having to
distribute it in source form.


Yes, NetBSD _could_ include GPL'd source code in the kernel, but that
would require people building commercial products out of NetBSD to
give away their kernel sources if they used that kernel code.  That is
unacceptable to the NetBSD project, since it defeats one of the
project's major goals.

Sure, legally, we could use the code (under the provisions of the
GPL).  But the provisions of the GPL are unacceptable for NetBSD
kernel and C library code.


cgd