[En-Nut-Discussion] Fwd: Nut/OS BSD License (was Re: branches\devnut_m3n and STM32F2 devices)

[Guillaume Fortaine]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Guillaume Fortaine <guillaume.fortaine at devopspace.com>
Date: Sat, Feb 11, 2012 at 9:41 PM
Subject: Nut/OS BSD License (was Re: branches\devnut_m3n and STM32F2 devices)
To: Ulrich Prinz <ulrich.prinz at googlemail.com>
Cc: Henrik Maier <hmnews at proconx.com>,
bon at elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de, ole.reinhardt at embedded-it.de,
Gareth McMullin <gareth at blacksphere.co.nz>, uwe at hermann-uwe.de, Piotr
Esden-Tempski <piotr at esden.net>


Dear Mister Prinz,

Thank you for your comprehensive reply.


> Unfortunately GPL license is (as Texas Instrument calles
> it) a virulent license. That means that adding code that is GPL often
> requires additional code directly connected also has to be converted
> to GPL too. So GPL eats up part by part all code of the system and
> therefore makes it impossible to generate a commercial code.

I would greatly appreciate to invite you to a further reading of the
article entitled "Opinion: License to FUD (comparing GPL and BSD)" :

http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/Linux-For-Devices-Articles/Opinion-License-to-FUD-comparing-GPL-and-BSD/


Best Regards,

--
Guillaume FORTAINE
guillaume.fortaine at devopspace.com
DevOpSpace
http://www.devopspace.com
+33(0)631.092.519


On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 2:37 PM, Ulrich Prinz
<ulrich.prinz at googlemail.com> wrote:
> Hello Guillaume,
>
> I need to agree with Uwe Bonnes statement. The whole team put a lot of
> energy to get STM32 and later other CortexM based CPUs working in a
> system that can be used free for any hobby and commercial development.
> The work we did can only be done cause we can use the results
> commecially. Unfortunately GPL license is (as Texas Instrument calles
> it) a virulent license. That means that adding code that is GPL often
> requires additional code directly connected also has to be converted
> to GPL too. So GPL eats up part by part all code of the system and
> therefore makes it impossible to generate a commercial code.
>
> You might say that linux is used commercialy too and I agree as I do
> this myself too. But it generates a lot of development to keep your
> core knowledge and your own inventions apart from the GPL linux code.
> But it is possible to do it as Linux offers enough standarized
> connections for your software that you then keep secret.
>
> Nut/OS is a system optimized for extremely small controllers, hardly
> or impossible to run (uc-)linux. So your application software can and
> must connect more tight to the system to work fast and efficient. With
> GPL applied you will be forced to open lots of your application code
> to everyone.
>
> I hope you understand that this cannot be our intention.
>
> Best regards
> Ulrich
>
> Am 10. Februar 2012 05:27 schrieb Henrik Maier <hmnews at proconx.com>:
>> Hello Guillaume Fortaine,
>>
>> The libopencm3 is GPL and because of this not license compatible with Nut/OS
>> and therefore cannot be used. I remember seeing discussions to change the
>> license of libopencm3 to LGPL but this was rejected.
>>
>> See
>> http://www.hermann-uwe.de/blog/libopenstm32-a-free-software-firmware-library-for-stm32-arm-cortex-m3-microcontrollers
>>
>> Best Regards
>>
>> Henrik Maier
>>
>>
>>
>> On 10/02/2012 12:58 PM, Guillaume Fortaine wrote:
>>>
>>> Dear Mister Bonnes, Mister Prinz, and Mister Maier
>>>
>>> First of all, I would like to wish you and the people around you an
>>> happy new year.
>>>
>>> Let me introduce myself : Guillaume FORTAINE, Cloudpreneur :
>>>
>>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/gfortaine
>>>
>>> I have read with interest the discussion entitled "branches\devnut_m3n
>>> and STM32F2 devices" [0]. Given that there is an Ethernet design
>>> available around the STM32 F-2,
>>> I would greatly appreciate to know if you plan to port the Ethernut
>>> project to it, if possible, please  :
>>>
>>> http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190638488534
>>>
>>> "ST Cortex M3 STM32F207 Development Board Ethernet USB Device/Host CAN"
>>>
>>>
>>> By the way, to quote [0] :
>>>
>>> "What I thought I do for now is to create an new subdir under
>>> branches\devnut_m3n\arch\cm3\dev called stm32f2 which temporarily
>>> holds the drivers I ported across from the stm directory. Once that
>>> becomes all stable and working I can work with the other STM32F1
>>> developers to maybe merge those files into one driver set suitable for
>>> F1, F2 and maybe even F4 devices. I like to avoid as much code
>>> duplication as possible."
>>>
>>>
>>> Wouldn't it be better to leverage the libopencm3 project ?
>>>
>>> http://libopencm3.org/
>>>
>>> "The libopencm3 project (previously known as libopenstm32) aims to
>>> create a free/libre/open-source (GPL v3, or later) firmware library
>>> for various ARM Cortex-M3 microcontrollers, including ST STM32,
>>> Toshiba TX03, Atmel SAM3U, NXP LPC1000 and others."
>>>
>>>
>>> I look forward to your answer,
>>>
>>> Best Regards,
>>>
>>> [0]
>>> http://lists.egnite.de/pipermail/en-nut-discussion/2011-December/013183.html
>>>
>>> --
>>> Guillaume FORTAINE
>>> guillaume.fortaine at devopspace.com
>>> DevOpSpace
>>> http://www.devopspace.com
>>> +33(0)631.092.519
>>>
>>