[pkg-nvidia-devel] nvidia-cuda-toolkit GPL licensing

[Russ Allbery]

Andreas Beckmann <debian at abeckmann.de> writes:
> On 2010-07-25 07:31, Russ Allbery wrote:

>> Is NVIDIA actually in violation of the GPL here, or are they
>> distributing the source somewhere with a notice that I haven't been
>> able to find?  I looked through the CUDA download page and couldn't
>> find any sign of a source distribution.

> I stepped over this once by accident and looked for it again: The source
> is available at

> ftp://download.nvidia.com/CUDAOpen64/

> includes
>>     1.      gdb
>>     2.      Open64

> I'm not sure about
>>     1.      gcc front-end v2.2

I'm pretty sure that's the nvopencc stuff.

> We could include the tarballs in our source tarball, but I wouldn't go
> for building the tools from source right now.

Hm, that's an interesting question... ah, no, I think we're okay if we
just include a pointer to NVIDIA's web site.  We're then using the GPL
3(c):

      3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
    under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of
    Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:

    c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer
    to distribute corresponding source code.  (This alternative is
    allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you
    received the program in object code or executable form with such
    an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)

There's a similar clause in the GPL version 3:

    c) Convey individual copies of the object code with a copy of the
    written offer to provide the Corresponding Source.  This
    alternative is allowed only occasionally and noncommercially, and
    only if you received the object code with such an offer, in accord
    with subsection 6b.

I think we need to include a pointer to the NVIDIA download location for
the source code in our copyright file, but I don't think we have to
include the source code itself.

-- 
Russ Allbery (rra at debian.org)               <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>