ReactOS GPL vs. proprietary drivers (affirmation)

[Jan Kratochvil]

Hi,
As GPLed Linux-NTFS still has no NTFS r/w capability I completed the project
for reliable r/w access in Wine way by using MS-Windows ntfs.sys driver.
Captive-NTFS
        http://www.jankratochvil.net/
My project is GPL-2.0 and it incorporates ReactOS kernel sources currently also
carrying GPL-2.0 license. There are rumours GPL may be problem for linking with
proprietary code (ntfs.sys&ntoskrnl.exe). I interpret it as GPL only affects
_distribution_ of the program while no proprietary code is distributed with my
package. Proprietary code is only run-time linked by the end-user.
In a GPL-related discussion here two monts ago ReactOS developers were open for
reusal of existing proprietary drivers for ReactOS as one of the significant
feature of ReactOS. I would like an affirmation from the major ReactOS
developers they are not going to try to sue me for releasing Captive NTFS.
Thanks,
Jan Kratochvil

[Steven Edwards]

Hello Jan,
Comments are inline.
--- Jan Kratochvil <rcpt-ros-kernel.AT.reactos.com(a)jankratochvil.net>
wrote:
>   Hi,
>  As GPLed Linux-NTFS still has no NTFS r/w capability I completed the
>  project
>  for reliable r/w access in Wine way by using MS-Windows ntfs.sys
>  driver.
>  Captive-NTFS
>         http://www.jankratochvil.net/ 
I have forwarded this reply to wine-devel as they my find captive NTFS
interesting
>   My project is GPL-2.0 and it incorporates ReactOS
> kernel sources
>  currently also
>  carrying GPL-2.0 license. There are rumours GPL may be problem for
>  linking with
>  proprietary code (ntfs.sys&ntoskrnl.exe). I interpret it as GPL only
>  affects
>  _distribution_ of the program while no proprietary code is
>  distributed with my
>  package. Proprietary code is only run-time linked by the end-user.
>  In a GPL-related discussion here two monts ago ReactOS developers
>  were open for
>  reusal of existing proprietary drivers for ReactOS as one of the
>  significant
>  feature of ReactOS. I would like an affirmation from the major
>  ReactOS
>  developers they are not going to try to sue me for releasing Captive
>  NTFS. 
I dont think you have to worry about any ReactOS developers filing
suit. I would be more worried about one from Microsoft =). In fact I am
very happy to see this. I would like to see the interface you have
developed evolve in to a a full compatiblty layer addon for WINE so
they can support other drivers. I must confess I have not had a chance
to look at the code but if it works as you say then this is great news!
If you dont distribute Captive NTFS with a Microsoft NTFS driver then
you should not have a problem. You are correct the GPL seems to only
cover distribution not use.
Thanks
Steven
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