Upstream Linux Developers Take Aim At TUXEDO's Out-Of-Tree GPLv3 Drivers
Upstream Linux Developers Take Aim At TUXEDO's Out-Of-Tree GPLv3 Drivers
A new patch series posted today to the Linux kernel mailing list would block kernel modules/drivers from TUXEDO Computers from accessing GPL-only symbols in the kernel.
TUXEDO Computers maintains a set of kernel drivers currently out-of-tree for their various laptops for additional functionality around power profiles, keyboard backlight controls, WMI, sensor monitoring, the embedded controller, and other functionality. They have said they want to eventually mainline these drivers but in the name of allowing for rapid hardware support they maintain them out-of-tree and ship them with their Ubuntu-based TUXEDO OS and also have the driver sources available via GitLab.
The issue at hand though is that these kernel drivers marked as GPLv3+ and that conflicts with the upstream Linux kernel code licensed as GPLv2. There was a commit to change the driver license from GPLv3 to GPL(v2) but was reverted by TUXEDO Computers on the basis of "until the legal stuff is sorted out."
Update: TUXEDO Computers Relicenses Some Of Their Drivers To GPLv2
As of yesterday, TUXEDO Computers has now been able to re-license their driver consisting of fully in-house code from GPLv3 to GPLv2+. These are the TUXEDO Computers drivers where it's all written by TUXEDO employees and not having to worry about code from any third-party developers or other vendors.
The gxtp7380, ite_8291, ite_8291_lb, ite_8297, stk8321, tuxedo_compatibility_check, tuxedo_nb02_nvidia_power_ctrl, and tuxedo_tuxi drivers are the initial ones able to be moved to the GPLv2+ licensing for satisfying upstream Linux kernel developers. Moving the other drivers to GPLv2+ will take longer due to needing to check with the associated parties that contributed to those drivers.
Ah, that is why keyboard backlight stopped working on my Aura 2 last week.
Imagine having such a hard-on for letting corporations exploit your work in abusive Tivoized products that you stoop to retaliation against a company that's actually trying to protect their customers.
one of the awesome things about buying a linux laptop from a linux company like tuxedo is that you don't have to worry about things like this since they have paid developers who maintain their own distro to "take care" of things like this and buying one of these linux laptops has made my experience smooth and thought free as a mac user.
it's a double edge sword however: lemmy has taught me that smooth sailing with linux laptops keeps you unaware of the trouble that lurks beneath the surface and that's disconnected me from the general linux user experience and has gated me from understanding the common themes and problems they encounter; i've started a new linux build and this time i'm going to do it the same way everyone here does, with a windows laptop.
that's disconnected me from the general linux user experience
are we romanticizing having a broken system?
@bunitor @eldavi yeah, why? This just shows that, if more hardware companies actively supported linux, there would be no issues left for non-tech end users, which would be awesome.
Please buy laptops and desktops from tuxedo, system76, framework, etc, and recommend them. They're doing a great job and do deserve the support.
very much so in addition to creating a new project for myself that's exciting; that's a big deal to me because i can't remember the last time in decades that i felt any excitement over any linux based project.
i learn best by challenging my knowledge and it teaches me where i'm ignorant and i can use that specify which areas to focus my self education.
i have a regular desktop computer and a very smooth user experience here, no complaints.
laptops can be hit or miss because of all the custom proprietary stuff in them.
laptops can be hit or miss because of all the custom proprietary stuff in them.
my experience is the same and that's why i'm going with a laptop; i wonder if the skills i've picked up since the last time i tried are going to help any since they're the kind of skills that get you paid in the linux world.
Agreed it's great that they provide firmware support and (hopefully) upstream it eventually. But I also hope they have well documented steps somewhere on how to install it on another distro, because it's likely many people install their own anyways.
i'm glad you brought that up; lemmy has taught me that people will use those linux company distros w/o the support and it blows my mind and makes me agree that they should be upstreaming it; i know that system76 does (eventually) and i wonder if tuxedo or anyone else does as well.
they have paid developers
They should pay lawyers as well.
Lawyers cost A LOT more than developers
What are you talking about? I run (atomic) fedora and I have a smooth experience.
You could easily sell your mac and buy a normal computer to have a smooth experience if the mac results in lots of problems
i don't have a mac anymore; but this exactly why i'm pursing this project: the last time i did this fedora atomic didn't exist and i'm likely to encounter that it's more rock solid than the fedora distros that i used to daily drive with before buying a linux laptop directly from the linux factory.
Please, I don't mean to be thick, but can someone ELI10 ? I honestly read the article and the comments, but I don't think I fully appreciate or understand the problem beyond the surface level (incompatible licenses). I mean, like so what? Who is screwing whom here? How are the going to circumvent this? And what tree are they referring to?
why would they use the gplv3 in the first place? didn't they know it's incompatible with v2?
Because the linux is explicitly only gpl2. If it was gpl2+ then gpl3 code could use it. It's a very known problem around the incompatibility of some licenses. The kernel people explicitly only want to use gpl2 and refuse changing the license because it's better for companies that want to use linux without giving back the code.
did you understand my question?
kek if true
They know it's better than v2.
enjoy having the best blacklisted drivers on linux then i guess
So, gpl3 is apparently not GPL and is somehow proprietary. Sure, makes perfect sense. Idk where they even find those geniuses.
GPL3 has extra restrictions banning patients etc. So yeah a lot of GPL 2 code written by companies that open software but not hardware. Would have legal questions about running with GPL 3
GPL 3 was created to be more restrictive to non-open hardware.
banning patients
Did you mean patents?
Yeah, but dudes there are kinda pissed off about semantics, IMO. Like, unless there's a PR from tuxedo using the same v3, I don't think it should concern them in the slightest... And instead of saying "keep in mind it's not upstreamable" they go out of their way to mark tuxedo's patches as proprietary 🤨
You wanna get tivoized? Ha? Because that's how you get tivoized.