Additional facts from in 2015-10-28 announcement.

The news announcement posted on Conservancy's site on 2015-10-28 at:
   https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/oct/28/vmware-update/

had additional facts.  This commit incorporates those into the FAQ.

Additionally, a link to additional technical materials was also provided
that day.
This commit is contained in:
Bradley M. Kuhn 2015-10-28 12:00:00 -07:00
parent 8899d0d08d
commit d01295b6c0

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@ -36,7 +36,10 @@
(unlike in the USA). Conservancy will continue to update this FAQ with (unlike in the USA). Conservancy will continue to update this FAQ with
information that Conservancy knows about the case. We would all also information that Conservancy knows about the case. We would all also
welcome an agreement with VMware whereby both sides would agree to publish welcome an agreement with VMware whereby both sides would agree to publish
all Court documents. </dd> all Court documents. Unfortunately, VMware has explicitly asked for the
filings not to be published. Accordingly, Conservancy itself has not
even been able to review VMware's statement of defense nor Christoph's
response to that statement of defense.</dd>
<dt>Who's funding this lawsuit?</dt> <dt>Who's funding this lawsuit?</dt>
@ -113,6 +116,37 @@
before filing this litigation.</p> before filing this litigation.</p>
</dd> </dd>
<dt>What are VMware's primary defenses for their alleged copyright
infringement?</dt>
<dd>With the guidance of counsel, Christoph was able to provide Conservancy
with a high-level summary of VMware's statement of defense, which we share
in this FAQ. Specifically, VMware's statement of defense primarily focuses
on two issues. First, VMware questions Christoph's copyright interest in
the Linux kernel and his right to bring this action. Second, VMware claims
vmklinux is an &ldquo;interoperability module&rdquo; which communicates
through a stable interface called VMK API.</dd>
<dt>How did Christoph respond to VMware's statement of defense?</dt>
<dd>Christoph's response discusses his extensive contributions to the Linux
kernel and disputes the technical merits of VMware's assertions. The
response points out that vmklinux is <strong>not</strong> an
interoperability module, but rather an arbitrary separation of the Linux
derived module from vmkernel. Specifically, vmklinux is nonfunctional
with any non-ESX OS, and vmklinux is tied intimately to a specific version
of ESXi. Vmklinux does not allow reuse of unmodified Linux drivers in
binary or source form. Christoph further points out that if the Court
allows proprietarization of an arbitrary split portion of GPL'd computer
programs, it could allow redistributors to trivially bypass the strong
copyleft terms found in the GPL. Finally, the response explains that
vmkernel and vmklinux don't &ldquo;communicate over an interface&rdquo;,
rather they run in the same process as a single computer program. Thus,
VMK API, as used by vmklinux, is not an &ldquo;interface&rdquo; as set
forth in
the <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32009L0024&from=EN">EU
Directive 2009/24/EC</a>.</dd>
<dt>Can you explain further how VMware incorporated code from Linux into <dt>Can you explain further how VMware incorporated code from Linux into
their kernel?</dt> their kernel?</dt>
@ -441,7 +475,12 @@ previously-mentioned <code>linux_pci.c</code>,
<code>vmkapi_pci_incompat.h</code>, and <code>k.b00</code> files, as well as <code>vmkapi_pci_incompat.h</code>, and <code>k.b00</code> files, as well as
<code>vmklinux_9</code> and the source code that builds the latter.</p> <code>vmklinux_9</code> and the source code that builds the latter.</p>
<p>To obtain the source components, follow these steps (no login is required):</p> <p>To speed up the process, Conservancy has provided
a <a href="https://git.sfconservancy.org/?p=vmkdrivers;a=summary">Git
repository that we built that includes the source components that VMware
released</a>, and which are discussed above in our examples. However, one
can also obtain the source components directly from VMware, by following
these steps (no login is required):</p>
<ol> <ol>
<li>Visit <a href="https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=ESXI55U2_OSS&productId=353">https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=ESXI55U2_OSS&productId=353</a>.</li> <li>Visit <a href="https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=ESXI55U2_OSS&productId=353">https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=ESXI55U2_OSS&productId=353</a>.</li>