| Part 5: "The Infamous RTLinux Patent" |
Victor Yodaiken (August 12, 2000)
Part 5: "The Infamous RTLinux Patent"
RL: OK, so let's talk about the "infamous" RTLinux patent. What's up with that patent?
Yodaiken: We're formalizing the license right now. What's clear, is that people who are running applications on RTLinux are free and clear. They don't have a problem. They have a license to use the method and to run their applications on it; there will be no fees or royalties. We would like to find some way of using the patent to reinforce GPL, so that people don't take this method and build proprietary systems on it, without some additional license.
RL: Could that potentially be used to block RTAI from being LGPL?
Yodaiken: RTLinux is released under the GPL. I have an agreement with Linus that nobody who uses RTLinux with Linux will have to pay royalties. And we're considering how other licenses are going to work out. I'm very much in favor of making sure that people who are doing GPL work or noncommercial research work don't have to go through any paperwork or pay. We're in the process of formalizing how that's going to work out so that we don't get into trouble later on. And this is an area that nobody knows how all these laws interact. But in the meantime, people who use the system, who use RTLinux, don't have anything to worry about -- there's a definite commitment there.
RL: When will the license become defined?
Yodaiken: It's been very late, and I'm sorry about that, but we had delays that were not our doing. I would like it out there and I'm hoping we can get it through the lawyers in a few weeks.
RL: Have you seen a lot of negative reaction to the RTLinux patent?
Yodaiken: I've received a lot of complaints, but also some cheers. (I was happy to see that the week after the patent got trashed on Slashdot, there was an even more hostile mob attacking Linus after the Transmeta announcement.)
Some of the hostility towards the patent is based on principle, people who on principle think software patents are wrong. I respect that position, even though I disagree with it. I think that software patents have obviously been abused, but I think they also have the potential of protecting individual innovators and small companies (like us) from having their work simply appropriated by bigger companies. That's what patents are supposed to do.
Some of the hostility that we see is the same hostility that you see towards GPL -- people who don't like the fact that the GPL doesn't permit you to close off open source. I've had bitter complaints about the patent from people who work for huge companies with giant patent portfolios -- complaints like "but I want to use this method on our proprietary operating system." There is an attitude that free software is work that some people will do as a hobby so that others can make some money with it. You know, "thanks for the ideas guys, but now let the professionals take over."
RL: To you, is GPL a fundamental principal, that you believe very strongly in?
Yodaiken: It is something I believe in strongly -- RTLinux is GPL and is available for free download on the net at the FSMLabs web site. On the other hand I'm not a GPL purist. I'm more in Linus Torvald's camp than in Richard Stallman's camp. I see GPL as something that has a lot of good force in it; it restores some balance to skill versus ownership. I very much respect Richard Stallman for his single-minded devotion to free software, because without that we would not have Linux and we would not have this very exciting and innovative software environment that we have right now.
So I'm in favor of GPL, but I don't believe that all software should be GPL'd, I don't believe that GPL is the only way to have open source, and I don't believe that people are necessarily evil if they don't produce GPL software. In my opinion, GPL is a critical part of making sure software is a free market instead of a monopoly. I don't know if Richard intended it that way. GPL has been unfairly criticized as being anti-commerce, but GPL is more anti-monopoly and pro-competition. Since I've been flying a lot, I see what happens when one company owns all the gates and doesn't have to care about customer service. GPL gets rid of the gates, like it says on that T-shirt.
RL: As the copyright holder of RTLinux, you also will license RTLinux for specific proprietary (i.e. non-GPL) uses, right?
Yodaiken: Sure. If people have hardware that has their proprietary innovations in it, and they need low level software to operate that, and they're going to package the software and the hardware, I don't see anything wrong with them selling a modified non-GPL version of RTLinux (the Linux part, of course, stays GPL). Of course, I'd like them to have a license from us when they do that.
The principal of GPL is that if you're distributing software, you must distribute the information in that software, you must tell everybody how it works, and you must allow them to go and tinker with it. But if you're selling a printer, and it's a closed box, and you want to hide how you program the access to the FPGAs in there, I don't necessarily think you should have to release that source publicly. The printer example is to the point, because the Ghostscript folks have been selling non-GPL versions of Ghostscript software to printer manufacturers for many years.
RL: Then why not release it under LGPL, which allows users to have a choice between open and proprietary?
Yodaiken: There's an important distinction here. I think that it's ok for people to buy licenses if they want to get out of GPL. They can buy licenses from the copyright holders. That's a reasonable requirement. You can tell people: if you want to work in the free software world, you can take the free software; but you're out there, you have to participate and you have to give back. If you don't want to be out in the free software world, you can purchase a license and get out of [the GPL restrictions].
RL: Thanks very much!
About Victor Yodaiken: Dr. Victor Yodaiken is President of FSMLabs, a software company headquartered in New Mexico and with developers in the US and Europe. Dr. Yodaiken is the creator of RTLinux. He has been working on systems in both industry and academia since the early 1980s when he was one of the developers of one of the first commercial distributed fault tolerant UNIX systems and wrote one of the first ports of UNIX to the Motorola 68000.
Story navigation:
Part 1: RTLinux -- the Past
Part 2: RTLinux -- the Present
Part 3: RTLinux -- the Future
Part 4: RTLinux and real-time standards
Part 5: "The Infamous RTLinux Patent"
Related stories:
Real Time Linux for Embedded Systems in the Internet Era
An Introduction to RTLinux
FSMLabs releases RTLinux Beta V3.0 Hard RealTime Linux
RTLinux is Patented?
New RTLinux release (V2.2) extends POSIX compliance
FSMLabs developing RTLinux for Compaq Alpha AXP
RTLinux V3.0 beta available for download
RTLinux.com
RTLinux: a real-time Linux
The RTLinux Manifesto
Do you have questions or comments on this article? talkback here
(Click here for further information)
|
|
|
FUEL Database on MontaVista Linux
Whether building a mobile handset, a car navigation system, a package tracking device, or a home entertainment console, developers need capable software systems, including an operating system, development tools, and supporting libraries, to gain maximum benefit from their hardware platform and to meet aggressive time-to-market goals.
Breaking New Ground: The Evolution of Linux Clustering
With a platform comprising a complete Linux distribution, enhanced for clustering, and tailored for HPC, Penguin Computing¿s Scyld Software provides the building blocks for organizations from enterprises to workgroups to deploy, manage, and maintain Linux clusters, regardless of their size.
Data Monitoring with NightStar LX
Unlike ordinary debuggers, NightStar LX doesn¿t leave you stranded in the dark. It¿s more than just a debugger, it¿s a whole suite of integrated diagnostic tools designed for time-critical Linux applications to reduce test time, increase productivity and lower costs. You can debug, monitor, analyze and tune with minimal intrusion, so you see real execution behavior. And that¿s positively illuminating.
Virtualizing Service Provider Networks with Vyatta
This paper highlights Vyatta's unique ability to virtualize networking functions using Vyatta's secure routing software in service provider environments.
High Availability Messaging Solution Using AXIGEN, Heartbeat and DRBD
This white paper discusses a high-availability messaging solution relying on the AXIGEN Mail Server, Heartbeat and DRBD. Solution architecture and implementation, as well as benefits of using AXIGEN for this setup are all presented in detail.
Understanding the Financial Benefits of Open Source
Will open source pay off? Open source is becoming standard within enterprises, often because of cost savings. Find out how much of a financial impact it can have on your organization. Get this methodology and calculator now, compliments of JBoss.
Embedded Hardware and OS Technology Empower PC-Based Platforms
The modern embedded computer is the jack of all trades appearing in many forms.
Data Management for Real-Time Distributed Systems
This paper provides an overview of the network-centric computing model, data distribution services, and distributed data management. It then describes how the SkyBoard integration and synchronization service, coupled with an implementation of the OMG¿s Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard, can be used to create an efficient data distribution, storage, and retrieval system.
7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.
|
|
|
|
|
news feed