Like it or not, Theo has a point... freebsd is shipping export-restricted software in the core

[Gonzalo Nemmi]

El 07/10/2010 12:11 a.m., Randal L. Schwartz escribió:
>>>>>> "Michael" == Michael Powell<nightrecon at hotmail.com>  writes:
>
> Michael>  I was under the impression that the most onerous of these
> Michael>  export rules and restrictions applied to crypto technology. If
> Michael>  this is so, what I don't quite grasp is what do crypto export
> Michael>  restrictions have to do with acpi? Is acpi a copyrighted,
> Michael>  patented, or trademark otherwise owned by some entity? Quite
> Michael>  possibly so as it is in contrib. I just have no idea who might
> Michael>  "own" it. Or how it would fall afoul of crypto export
> Michael>  restrictions.
>
> Exactly my point.  Either it's crypto, and the whole distro is tainted
> and should be marked as such UP FRONT, or it's not, and the paragraph
> should be removed, if possible.
>
> Or a third alternative... use the ACPI implementation from OpenBSD,
> which doesn't have such a restriction.
>

You just read my mind ... I was about to point out the same thing .. 
which I think was what inspired Theo to title his mail "FreeBSD isn't 
Free" ... I took it as he was making fun about the fact that they have 
their own acpi implementation whereas, by following acpica, FreeBSD 
turned out being subject to intel´s acpica copyright notice and terms.

Boiling it down, Theo´s mail was nothing but a "MDIBTY ... and 
furthermore: we are not tiered by legal restrictions" ... and just as 
you said: "Like it or not, Theo has a point..." although from where I´m 
standing, he has two ...

Best Regards
Gonzalo Nemmi