Nokia SDK incomplete source code

[paolo del bene]

i received your e-mail about nokia 810, what really happened ? and why
it does not distribute a copy of GNU/linux ? they say that is
possibile to request a copy but really is not so, people that work
inside nothing know that a copy of GNU/linux must to stay in the box,
there is written only on the guide of nokia.

 maemo.org distribute a copy of GNU/linux and why not Nokia ?

i got the nokia 770 is not there violation to have not distribute the
source code ?

nokia could put on cvs, ftp, svn, http all the material necessary and
to do mirrors in the world.

awaiting your reply,

paolo del bene

2008/8/13, Roberto Gordo Saez <roberto.gordo at gmail.com>:
> I would want to get your opinion in a particular case regarding
> the software for Nokia N810 (and other models) Internet Tables.
>
> In general, Nokia has done a remarkable task to comply with
> free licenses. I've been closely tracking their changes and it
> looks that they have reviewed most code in the base libraries,
> they got rid of any incompatible, suspicious or unclear code in
> many of them. They also ensured to remove all GPL code from
> libraries in order to be able to place their proprietary
> software on top.
>
> As usual, there are also borderline cases that may be GPL
> incompatibilities or not depending on the person that you ask
> (proprietary kernel modules, binary firmware and so on...) but
> I'm not focused on that. Instead, I would want to comment about
> another case. This is my analisys of the situation. I will quote
> fragments from the LGPL v2 along my comments:
>
> The library libesd.so is under the LGPL v2. It is inside the
> osso-esd package, which is based on the Enlightened Sound Daemon
> (EsoundD). Nokia modified and added code to the library, so it
> is a "work based on the Library".
>
>     [...] A "work based on the Library" means either the Library
>     or any derivative work under copyright law: that is to say,
>     a work containing the Library or a portion of it, either
>     verbatim or with modifications and/or translated
>     straightforwardly into another language. [...]
>
> The library has been modified in a way that requires some
> proprietary header files in order to compile. Those proprietary
> files are NOT "normally distributed with the major components of
> the operating system". In fact, they are not made available [1].
>
> The LGPL allows, under certain conditions [2], to link
> proprietary executables to LGPL libraries. It is called a "work
> that uses the Library". Note the difference between that and a
> "work based on the Library". In this case, the library is
> combined with proprietary headers and a binary libesd.so is
> distributed to the users, which can't be compiled by anyone else
> with the provided sources.
>
>     [...] 4. You may copy and distribute the Library (or a
>     portion or derivative of it, under Section 2) in object code
>     or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above
>     provided that you accompany it with the complete
>     corresponding machine-readable source code, which must be
>     distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a
>     medium customarily used for software interchange. [...]
>
> I think that Sections 1 and 2 are satisfied, but in my opinion
> the "complete corresponding machine-readable source code"
> requirement is not. Complete source code is defined in the
> LGPL v2 as:
>
>     [...] For a library, complete source code means all the
>     source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated
>     interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control
>     compilation and installation of the library. [...]
>
> Also note that the LGPL license allows non-free programs to use
> free libraries, but the library internally has similar
> requirements than the GNU GPL; intended to preserve the freedom
> to modify, to make changes, and to be able to compile and to
> relink the program with the modified library [3].
>
> It looks that nowhere in the LGPL text allows to modify an LGPL
> library and distribute a binary version that can't be recompiled
> from sources. Those headers should be made available under a
> license compatible with the LGPL v2 or, in case they don't want
> to release those headers, the library should be reworked as a
> "combined library", as defined in the Section 7 of the LGPL v2.
> The combined library should have a LGPL part that can be
> compiled and linked independently, and probably a proprietary
> part or another small library which make use of the propietary
> headers.
>
> There has been requests by some developers for those headers,
> but the response was "sorry, it is proprietary" [4]. Given the
> effort previously made by Nokia to remain relatively conforming
> to free licenses, I hope they will be willing to solve this
> issue if the problem is correctly exposed to them.
>
> Note that I'm Not A Lawyer, only an angry user tired of those
> companies. This is indeed a complicated case subject to other
> interpretations, so feel free to give me your comments; I will
> feel free to ignore them if don't like them :-) [5] I will do
> my best to bring back my right to modify, compile and install my
> modified libesd.
>
>
> Footnotes:
>
> [1] A very old version of those header files was made available
>     (though under proprietary notices), and it is still
>     available on the ftp:
>     http://repository.maemo.org/pool/maemo/ossw/source/o/osso-dsp-headers/
>     It is not usable on the current version of the SDK.
>
> [2] Refer to LGPL v2 Section 5 for the list of conditions.
>
> [3] From the LGPL v2 preamble.
>
> [4] https://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2271
>     Note that this bug report refers to the gst-plugins-dsp
>     package, with has the same dependency, but it is made and
>     copyrighted by Nokia, so the LGPL can't be enforced to their
>     own code in this case. Anyways, a very unfortunate decision
>     to distribute LGPL code that nobody except Nokia could really
>     use under the full LGPL terms...
>
> [5] Just kidding, I'm interested in reading.
>
>
>