[clug] What can't be distributed with Linux?

Chris Smart chris at kororaa.org
Sun Mar 18 11:19:25 GMT 2007


Hey all,
Having run into this sort of thing myself in the past, I'm wondering if
anyone has some resources on what can and can't be distributed with
Linux?

For example, AFAIK libdvdcss is illegal in countries where it is against
the law to circumvent copy protection measures.

What about things like win32codecs? I know most distros don't include
them by default, but I'm not sure whether they are distributable. If
they aren't, then how can they be downloaded from mplayer off the net?

Then back in the kernel with things like, Intel's ipw3945 driver - it is
under GPL and BSD license, so I assume this is incompatible with the
kernel and the GPL. Similarly, the atheros chipset madwifi-ng driver,
and so the list goes on.

Any resources for finding out this sort of thing?

Thanks!
Chris



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