[lotuseclat79]

Slashdot article here.

Kernel Trap article NDISwrapper and the GPL.

-- Tom

[tomdkat]

Wow, thanks for posting the links. I think this kind of discussion directly relates to the other discussion about Linux standardization in support of Linux going more "mainstream". I know NDISwrapper gets LOTS of use since there aren't many Linux native drivers for wireless adapters and reading Linus Torvalds' comments about it make me wonder what the future of wireless connectivity on Linux will be in the future.

Peace...

[RobLinux]

http://lwn.net/Articles/271762/ NDIS wrapper dodges another bullet (subscriber content at present)

The latest Linus development kernel restores NDIS functionality, though it is *NOT* part of the standard kernel tree, but probably gets included with most distro's.

The article clears things up quite nicely. Basically the crux of the argument is whether GPL Linux + GPL NDIS Kernel Module + Closed DOS/Win driver could be considered a derived work. What it probably means is that GPL Linux + GPL NDIS driver can be distributed, users have to obtain the binary drivers seperately, rather than have them included in a Linux distro. OTOH some kernel developers, really don't like any binary drivers and would quite happily break anything using binary blobs, rather than just having the kernel flagged as "tainted".

Linuse does not think there's license issues with it http://lwn.net/Articles/271789/

NDIS is an ancient (late 80's) DOS network inteface for DOS/Windows network drivers. Whilst it is better to use an Open Source driver if at all possilbe (and one included in kernel release), sometimes it may be useful work round in extremis, but should be avoided on production systems.

Another problem with NDIS is that it's Intel x86 CPU architecture, and Linux runs on other processors like PPC, where an NDIS driver cannot ever be loaded and run by the kernel.

It's quite hard for forums and google to keep up with the "current" state on kernel things, all too often I suspect problem solutions become redendant (if not actually harmful) as the state of the art moves on.

[tomdkat]

Thanks for those links. I'll check them out later today.

Peace...