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> I think it's fair to use Windows and Linux as stand-ins for closed vs open source because it's a very accessible example We're talking about businesses here
by dataflow 1y ago
> I think it's fair to use Windows and Linux as stand-ins for closed vs open source because it's a very accessible example
We're talking about businesses here that would struggle with these tax rules. Which I guess is, mainly, contractors or startups. How common is it for them to write open-source drivers vs. closed-source ones? I would've imagined the majority of drivers in such cases are closed-source, on every platform. But I would find it interesting to hear if things are somehow different on Linux.
- travisb 1y agoLinux kernel drivers often end up being GPL'd, but out of tree. This is because Linux releases many very useful (and sometimes critical to the use-case!) functions behind a GPL-license API restriction. This is EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL.
- dataflow 1y agoAre you sure this is exactly what it means? You're basically saying that if I start hacking on a driver that consumes such an API tonight, I must release it as GPL somewhere publicly the moment I start consuming the API? I can't even work on it for a bit privately? I'm surprised if so, because usually these sorts of licenses only apply if you're redistributing the code, not if you're just using it privately.