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> I could’ve talked about Android and embedded Linux. I didn’t want to, though. But me not talking about them doesn’t mean they also show that the FSF telling h

by Mc91 5y ago

> I could’ve talked about Android and embedded Linux. I didn’t want to, though. But me not talking about them doesn’t mean they also show that the FSF telling half truths when it comes to what GNU is. > If you thought I was going to go the “Android route” of argumentation… You know… saying that Android shows that Linux can be used without GNU… Sorry! I’m way more sophisticated than that! Sophisticated in what sense? That when you search the Android source tree you find FSF code? https://cs.android.com/android/platform/superproject/+/master:prebuilts/rust/linux-x86/1.55.0/src/stdlibs/library/backtrace/crates/backtrace-sys/src/libbacktrace/fileline.c https://cs.android.com/android/platform/superproject/+/maste...

marcan_42 5y ago
Finding a few files containing (BSD-licensed!) code that originated in the FSF doesn't sound like a particularly compelling argument that people have to use their code. Of course people will use their code when it does the job and the license fits, it'd be silly not to. FWIW, here's a search for FSF-copyright code that excludes build generator output (autotools/automake/libtool/etc) and gcc/bison/etc related stuff (which many other projects which are not themselves FSF-authored use), as well as licenses themselves: https://cs.android.com/search?q=copyright.*free%5C%20software%5C%20foundation%20-f:configure%20-f:config.*%20-f:conftools%20-f:compile%20-f:gcc%20-f:m4%20-f:bison%20-f:Makefile.*%20-f:depcomp%20-f:missing%20-f:libtool.*%20-%22When%20we%20speak%20of%20free%20software%22%20-%22made%20by%20GNU%20Bison%22%20-f:ltmain.sh%20-automake%20-autoconf%20-%22Purpose%20of%20this%20License%22%20%20-%22As%20used%20herein%22&ss=android%2Fplatform%2Fsuperproject https://cs.android.com/search?q=copyright.*free%5C%20softwar... 193 hits, and a lot of that is ffi and libbacktrace stuff. Exclude those two projects, and you're down to 47 hits, most of which are random things like headers, test shell scripts, and some translations. I think it's fair to say that Android does not include any significant amount of GNU/FSF code. (Keep in mind that the Android codebase is massive and vendors a huge amount of third-party projects, so it's actually quite remarkable that there is so little FSF code in here - part of that speaks to how little FSF people contribute to other projects!)

by Mc91 5y ago

marcan_42 5y ago

Finding a few files containing (BSD-licensed!) code that originated in the FSF doesn't sound like a particularly compelling argument that people have to use their code. Of course people will use their code when it does the job and the license fits, it'd be silly not to. FWIW, here's a search for FSF-copyright code that excludes build generator output (autotools/automake/libtool/etc) and gcc/bison/etc related stuff (which many other projects which are not themselves FSF-authored use), as well as licenses themselves: https://cs.android.com/search?q=copyright.*free%5C%20software%5C%20foundation%20-f:configure%20-f:config.*%20-f:conftools%20-f:compile%20-f:gcc%20-f:m4%20-f:bison%20-f:Makefile.*%20-f:depcomp%20-f:missing%20-f:libtool.*%20-%22When%20we%20speak%20of%20free%20software%22%20-%22made%20by%20GNU%20Bison%22%20-f:ltmain.sh%20-automake%20-autoconf%20-%22Purpose%20of%20this%20License%22%20%20-%22As%20used%20herein%22&ss=android%2Fplatform%2Fsuperproject https://cs.android.com/search?q=copyright.*free%5C%20softwar... 193 hits, and a lot of that is ffi and libbacktrace stuff. Exclude those two projects, and you're down to 47 hits, most of which are random things like headers, test shell scripts, and some translations. I think it's fair to say that Android does not include any significant amount of GNU/FSF code. (Keep in mind that the Android codebase is massive and vendors a huge amount of third-party projects, so it's actually quite remarkable that there is so little FSF code in here - part of that speaks to how little FSF people contribute to other projects!)