diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'busybox/docs/busybox.net/license.html')
-rw-r--r-- | busybox/docs/busybox.net/license.html | 135 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 135 deletions
diff --git a/busybox/docs/busybox.net/license.html b/busybox/docs/busybox.net/license.html deleted file mode 100644 index 14324f1df..000000000 --- a/busybox/docs/busybox.net/license.html +++ /dev/null | |||
@@ -1,135 +0,0 @@ | |||
1 | <!--#include file="header.html" --> | ||
2 | |||
3 | |||
4 | <h3>The GPL BusyBox license</h3> | ||
5 | |||
6 | There has been some confusion in the past as to exactly what is | ||
7 | required to safely distribute GPL'd software such as BusyBox as | ||
8 | part of a product. To ensure that there is no confusion | ||
9 | whatsoever, this page attempts to summarize what you should do to | ||
10 | ensure you do not accidentally violate the law. | ||
11 | |||
12 | <p> | ||
13 | <h3>Complying with the BusyBox license is easy and completely free.</h3> | ||
14 | |||
15 | U.S. and International Law protects copyright owners from the unauthorized | ||
16 | reproduction, adaptation, display, distribution, etc of copyright protected | ||
17 | works. Copyright violations (such as shipping BusyBox in a manner contrary to | ||
18 | its license) are subject to severe penalties. The courts can award up to | ||
19 | $150,000 per product shipped without even showing any actual loss by the | ||
20 | copyright holder. Criminal penalties are available for intentional acts | ||
21 | undertaken for purposes of "commercial advantage" or "private financial gain." | ||
22 | In addition, if it comes to my attention that you are violating the BusyBox | ||
23 | license, I will list you on the <a href="/shame.html">BusyBox Hall of Shame</a> | ||
24 | webpage. | ||
25 | |||
26 | <p> | ||
27 | |||
28 | Nobody wants that to happen. Do everyone a favor and don't break the law -- if | ||
29 | you use BusyBox, you <b>must comply with the BusyBox license</b>. | ||
30 | |||
31 | <p> | ||
32 | <h3>BusyBox is licensed under the GNU General Public License</h3> | ||
33 | |||
34 | BusyBox is licensed under the GNU General Public License , which | ||
35 | is generally just abbreviated as the GPL license, or | ||
36 | just the GPL. | ||
37 | <p> | ||
38 | <a href="/products.html">Anyone thinking of shipping | ||
39 | BusyBox as part of a product</a> should be familiar with the | ||
40 | licensing terms under which they are allowed to use and | ||
41 | distribute BusyBox. You are advised to take a look over the | ||
42 | |||
43 | <ul> | ||
44 | <li><a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">full text of | ||
45 | the GNU General Public License</a>, and | ||
46 | <li><a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html"> | ||
47 | Frequently Asked Questions about the GNU GPL</a> | ||
48 | </ul> | ||
49 | to be sure you (and your lawyers) fully understand them. | ||
50 | |||
51 | <p> | ||
52 | |||
53 | The following is a quick summary for the impatient. If you | ||
54 | carefully follow these steps, it will ensure that you are 100% | ||
55 | authorized to ship BusyBox with your product, and have no reason | ||
56 | to worry about lawsuits or being listed on the <a | ||
57 | href="/shame.html">BusyBox Hall of Shame</a> page. You will be | ||
58 | able to sleep peacefully at night knowing you have fulfilled all | ||
59 | your licensing obligations. | ||
60 | |||
61 | <p> | ||
62 | |||
63 | If you distribute a product, it should either be accompanied by | ||
64 | <b>full source for all GPL'd products</b> (including BusyBox) | ||
65 | and/or a <b>written offer</b> to supply the source for all | ||
66 | GPL'd products for the cost of shipping and handling. The source | ||
67 | has to be in its preferred machine readable form, so you cannot | ||
68 | encrypt or obfuscate it. You are not required to provide full | ||
69 | source for all the closed source applications that happen to be | ||
70 | part of the system with BusyBox, though you can certainly do so | ||
71 | if you feel like it. But providing source for the GPL licensed | ||
72 | applications such as BusyBox is mandatory. | ||
73 | |||
74 | <p> | ||
75 | |||
76 | <b>Accompanied by source</b> generally means you distribute the full | ||
77 | source code for all GPL'd products including BusyBox along with your | ||
78 | product, such as by placing it somewhere on a driver CD. Full source | ||
79 | code includes the BusyBox ".config" file used when your shipping BusyBox | ||
80 | binary was compiled, and any and all modifications you made to the | ||
81 | BusyBox source code. | ||
82 | |||
83 | <p> | ||
84 | |||
85 | <b>A written offer</b> generally means that somewhere in the | ||
86 | documentation for your product, you write something like | ||
87 | |||
88 | <blockquote> | ||
89 | The GPL source code contained in this product is available as a | ||
90 | free download from http://blah.blah.blah/ | ||
91 | </blockquote> | ||
92 | Alternatively, you can offer the source code by writing | ||
93 | somewhere in the documentation for your product something like | ||
94 | <blockquote> | ||
95 | If you would like a copy of the GPL source code contained in this | ||
96 | product shipped to you on CD, please send $9.99 to <address> | ||
97 | which covers the cost of preparing and mailing a CD to you. | ||
98 | </blockquote> | ||
99 | <p> | ||
100 | |||
101 | Keep in mind though that if you distribute GPL'd binaries online (as is often | ||
102 | done when supplying firmware updates), it is <b>highly</b> recommended that you | ||
103 | make the corresponding source available online at the same place. Regardless, | ||
104 | if you distribute a binary copy of BusyBox online (such as part of a firmware | ||
105 | update) you <b>must</b> either make source available online (i.e. | ||
106 | <b>accompanied by source</b>) and/or inform those downloading firmware updates | ||
107 | of their right to obtain source (i.e. <b>a written offer</b>). Failure to do | ||
108 | so is a violation of your licensing obligations. | ||
109 | |||
110 | |||
111 | <p> | ||
112 | |||
113 | Some people have the mistaken understanding that if they use unmodified | ||
114 | GPL'd source code, they do not need to distribute anything. This belief | ||
115 | is not correct, and is not supported by the | ||
116 | <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">text of GPL</a>. | ||
117 | Please do re-read it -- you will find there is no such provision. | ||
118 | If you distribute any GPL'd binaries, you must also make source available | ||
119 | as discussed on this webpage. | ||
120 | |||
121 | <p> | ||
122 | <h3>A Good Example</h3> | ||
123 | |||
124 | These days, <a href="http://www.linksys.com/">Linksys</a> is | ||
125 | doing a good job at complying with the GPL, they get to be an | ||
126 | example of how to do things right. Please take a moment and | ||
127 | check out what they do with | ||
128 | <a href="http://www.linksys.com/download/firmware.asp?fwid=178"> | ||
129 | distributing the firmware for their WRT54G Router.</a> | ||
130 | Following their example would be a fine way to ensure that you | ||
131 | have also fulfilled your licensing obligations. | ||
132 | |||
133 | |||
134 | <!--#include file="footer.html" --> | ||
135 | |||