On Thu, Oct 24, 2013 at 09:38:12AM +0800, Yishin Li wrote: > The license stated from IgH EtherCAT Master for Linux : > All the source code available through IgH is licensed under the GPLv2 > license. > http://www.etherlab.org/en/ethercat/index.php
Read on to the paragraph just below, which reads "The license above concerns the source code only. Using the EtherCAT technology and brand is only permitted in compliance with the industrial property and similar rights of Beckhoff Automation GmbH.". Specifically, Beckhoff Automation GmbH claims that the implementation of EtherCAT is covered by their patents and that you: * must enter into an agreement with them in order to use the software (this restriction conflicts with GPLv2 section 0) * may not modify the software so that it is not a compliant EtherCAT Master (this restriction conflicts with GPLv2 section 0) * may not grant a sublicense for the software (this restriction conflicts with GPLv2 section 4) [my own paraphrase of highlights from http://ethercatmaster.berlios.de/files/EtherCAT_Master_License_Agreement.pdf] Any one of these three problems would put the LinuxCNC project in hot water because of GPLv2 section 7, as I said in my initial message in this thread. If your reading is different, then feel free to develop and distribute HAL drivers which link to an EtherCAT master implementation but do not ask us to distribute them in source or binary form from LinuxCNC.org, including by placing them in our git tree. Jeff ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ October Webinars: Code for Performance Free Intel webinars can help you accelerate application performance. Explore tips for MPI, OpenMP, advanced profiling, and more. Get the most from the latest Intel processors and coprocessors. See abstracts and register > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=60135991&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk _______________________________________________ Emc-developers mailing list Emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers
