Re: [oc] A word on free licenses...

[Jasse Jansson <machinegun_messiah@bigfoot.com>]

Jeff Garzik wrote:
> 
> Before the OR1K core is posted you guys should think long and hard about
> licenses.
> 
> If you want to FORCE any vendor using OR1K to post their modifications,
> use the GPL.
> Otherwise, use the new BSD license (the one without the
> copyright/documentation requirement).

It might be tough to force a company to reveal their own stuff.
That will most probably prevent companys to use OR1K.

> The GPL has been very successful for gcc and the Linux kernel, many
> times forcing a company to open up code which would have otherwise been
> kept non-free.  As a Linux kernel hacker, I am very happy that the GPL
> and not BSD license was used.

One problem with GPL (the way I see it) is that it might prevent a
company to spend time on developing new programs, it's a wast of
money for them because they have to give it away for free.
I think that's why you never (???) see any new innovations first
appearing under linux.
This might be a serious issue for this project.

((When it comes to UNIX, which is not my favorite choice,
I'm into the BSD side. One reason is the Berkeley licence.))

> I think in the case of hardware, intellectual property is even more
> closely guarded than it is under the software realm.  IMHO unless you
> are really hard core for free software/free IP, the BSD license should
> be used for the cores on the OpenCores site...

I think it's better if the contributions from other sources is
contributed by free will, not by force.
Stuff contributed that way will (probably) be of a more general
nature and therefore of more use for others.



BTW, I'm new on this list so I have a few questions:

1/ will the "Super FPGA board" be a PCI board for use in a
passive backplane or is it ment to be plugged into a PC or
is it a standalone board?

2/ Is there any plans for a bootloader/"BIOS" which takes care
of initial configurations of serial ports, ethernet and so on?

-- 
Jasse Jansson, The Only Authorized Stealth Oracle South Of Hell.
-*- The Axioms Of Wisdom -*-
(1) You Can Neither Outsecure OpenBSD, Nor Outstubborn A Cat
(2) Never Underestimate The Power Of The Brute Force
(3) You Can't Conquer The Universe Without The Knowledge Of FORTRAN