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filings not to be published.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