GPL Compliance Engineering Delves Into the Inner Life of Embedded Devices
Dutch Linux consultant Armijn Hemel clarifies in his recently issued GPL Compliance Engineering Guide how to check for GPL breaches of electronic devices.
Hemel works for Loohuis Consulting, a company that focuses primarily on licensing violations. The company targets vendors that want to ensure their products' compliance. Hemel is also an honorary participant in the GPL Violations project that represents the rights of software authors in respect to their device vendors. The project has already successfully represented clients in suits against router vendors that violated Linux Kernel licensing provisions.
In the 26-page PDF document Hemel describes the technical part of GPL Compliance Engineering, from portscanning with nmap, bootloader analysis, data systems and firmware, to getting physical access to the device’s serial console. A small section of the document covers devices with a Windows inner life often involving the GPL-licensed Cygwin program.
Hemel includes short words of warning at the outset: "Some things described in this guide might not be legal due to DMCA(like) legislation in your country." Developers in the U.S., for example, might run into conflict with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Hemel also contemplates the reasons behind some of these Open Source licensing violations. He cites the fiercely competitive consumer electronics business, where companies can become lax in checking for, and keeping to, license provisions, with many preferring to risk a lawsuit than miss a sale.
Comments
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.
A very levelheaded down-to-earth report
His testing recommendations, while certainly not shocking or surprising, are irrefutable, show strong commonsense, and absolutely the first steps one should take.
Good work!