[coreboot] How to properly conform with GPLv2 for Coreboot and SeaBIOS on an embedded system

[Lewis, Ian (Microstar Laboratories)]

Hello David,

 

David Hendricks wrote:

Ø  Did you actually need to change coreboot or SeaBIOS? If so, how extensive were the changes? I am guessing that the boot firmware isn't considered to be part of the high-value IP of the product - that is presumably in your OS.

No. We have made no changes. At the moment we do not even know how to build the required modules for the system. Personally, I would rather we did not have to know how to do a build, but I think we will need to so that we can validate that the source code matches the binary we distribute. Even once we do work out how to do a build, I very much doubt we will make any changes at all. If we do change anything in coreboot or SeaBIOS – or any other GPL licensed project for that matter, we will definitely release our changes back to the relevant project to accept or reject. 

 

Ø  Your idea about using the "About" tab to inform the user about the licenses and where to find the code is good. It should cover your company even if the customer never reads it. 

If this is correct, and an About tab with all the relevant information about coreboot and SeaBIOS meets our – and our customer’s – licensing responsibility, then we clearly can do something that will work well for our purposes. And, the issue becomes purely one of engineering work and administration in production. 

 

Ø  Like you say, the goal here should be to make it so that downstream customers don't need to think about this stuff. The nice thing is that if you act consistently with the spirit of the open-source licenses then this should all be simple for them and for your company as well, and you get to spend more time engineering and collaborating and less time worrying.

Once I have an idea what I am talking about, I may spend less time worrying. 

 

Ø  Just my $0.02. Please make sure to consult your company's legal department before acting on anything you read in this thread (or elsewhere) :-)

:->

 

Ian

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