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"They are not distributing the source code with their cars, so option "a" is out" I disagree. BMW currently offers the source code as a download on their websi
by mrb 11y ago
"They are not distributing the source code with their cars, so option "a" is out"
I disagree. BMW currently offers the source code as a download on their website if a customer provides his 7-digit VIN, so this is them fulfilling the requirement that they must "accompany [the car] with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code". It is all in the meaning of "accompany it": giving the source code physically along with the keys when you purchase the car, or offering a source code download link. I would argue that either option is compliant with the GPL, so to me it seems BMW is in the right.
Edit: s/IBM/BMW/
- 0xffff2 11y ago(I think you meant BMW, not IBM...)
- 5ilv3r 11y agoBMW VIN must be longer than 7 digits.... IBM product license serial numbers at 7 digits would make more sense.
- devy 11y agoYes, VIN numbers are 17-characters long, but only the last 7 characters are unique, called "sequential number".[1] The first 10 characters are composed of make, model, year etc. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number
- sjwright 11y agoBMW only ever cares about the last 7 digits of your VIN, as demonstrated on their iDrive software update page: http://www.bmw.com/update http://www.bmw.com/update (an example code would be "J123456")
- dublinben 11y agoDid you see any source code in that firmware download? I'm not an expert, but it looked to me like a lot of compiled binaries.