Re: [Qemu-devel] [PATCH 4/4] kvm: i386: Add classic PCI device assignment

[Eric Blake]

On 09/05/2012 01:04 PM, Blue Swirl wrote:
>> I don't mind GPLv2+, if people want to share code from QEMU in GPLv3
>> projects, GPLv2+ enables that.
> 
> The advantage of 100% GPLv2+ (or other GPLv3 compatible) would be that
> QEMU could share code from GPLv3 projects, specifically latest
> binutils. Reinventing a disassembler for ever growing x86 assembly is
> no fun.

Not quite right.

If qemu is 100% GPLv2+ and binutils is GPLv3+, then binutils can borrow
code from qemu and the result is that binutils is still GPLv3+; but in
the converse direction, if qemu borrows code from binutils then qemu is
no longer 100% GPLv2+ but becomes GPLv3+ by tainting.

That is, requesting GPLv2+ allows qemu code to be reused elsewhere, but
does not help qemu import external code that is not already GPLv2+.

> 
>>
>> But if new code is coming in and happens to be under GPLv2, that just
>> means that the contribution cannot be used outside of QEMU in a GPLv3
>> project.  That's fine and that's a decision for the submitter to make.
> 
> This policy means that we are locked in with GPLv2.

I'm afraid we're already locked at GPLv2 (and not GPLv2+), for good or
for bad.

-- 
Eric Blake   address@hidden    +1-919-301-3266
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org

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