[Arm-netbook] Allwinner git / GPL stalemate situation

[Carlos Balseiro]

> Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 18:31:07 +0100
> From: luke.leighton at gmail.com
> To: arm-netbook at lists.phcomp.co.uk
> Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] Allwinner git / GPL stalemate situation
> 
> On Fri, Jun 1, 2012 at 4:58 PM, Vladimir Pantelic <vladoman at gmail.com> wrote:
> > cnxsoft wrote:
> >> On 01/06/2012 18:03, Tsvetan Usunov, OLIMEX LTD wrote:
> >>> Olimex will be granted to access to Allwinner development git repositories
> >>> if we sign NDA which do not allow us to share the sources with 3rd parties.
> >>>
> >>> Now we are in stalemate situation if we want to develop the Linux support
> >>> for A10-A13-OLinuXino we have to use the information on these repositories
> >>> as the other documentation is incomplete, we spoted lot of errors on it (but
> >>> we have been warned that there are errors anyway) and only these sources
> >>> guarantee that we will not lose time while development, in other hand
> >>> signing this NDA will make us GPL violator as we will not be able to release
> >>> the BSP sources.
> >>>
> >>> Any ideas? We are so smallish customer that we can't influence
> >>> Allwinner/Wits on GPL at all. If we do not sign, they just do not allow us
> >>> access and we are free to go somewhere else :-)
> >>>
> >>> Tsvetan
> >> Interesting. So if i understand correctly, they ask you to sign a
> >> legally binding document asking you to do something against the law.
> >
> > it is not against the law. if you sign that NDA, you cannot release the
> > code under the GPL, thus you cannot release a product.
> 
>  ... and AllwinnerTech lose their right to distribute the code under
> the GPL for violating the GPL license, because forcing people to sign
> NDAs in order to receive GPL source code is itself not permitted under
> the terms and conditions of the GPL.
> 
>  that basically puts their entire business in the shitter.
> 
>  when will these f*****g companies start to f*****g get it??
> 

When companies stop buying products based on their SoCs. And I don't see that happening anytime soon, chinese market just doesn't care about it and a lot of western rebranders also don't care at all.
 		 	   		  
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