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Joshua Kinard wrote: |
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> Hmm, it looks like dropbear is relying heavily on the ecc/ecdsa functions |
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> provided in libtomcrypt, and that library's homepage states all its code is |
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> public domain. Our ebuild has no bindist restrictions on that library. |
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> Perhaps that is how dropbear, and thus Red Hat, avoids the issues with |
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> licensing or patents? |
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Licenses apply to implementations and patents apply to inventions/ideas. |
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A software license can allow you to theoretically use an implementation |
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while a patent says no you can't without licensing that right separately. |
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The reverse is equally possible; an expired patent means that using the |
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invention/idea is not restricted by the patent anymore, but there may |
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still be no free/open source implementation (yet). |
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AIUI USE=-bindist is all three variants (swlicense_says_no || patent_says_no) |
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while USE=bindist promises that (swlicense_says_yes && patent_says_yes) |
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is guaranteed to be true at the cost of functionality? |
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//Peter |
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