[LinuxBIOS] Distribution of binary images and Intel NDAs...

Reece R. Pollack reece at theptrgroup.com
Wed Mar 21 12:20:03 CET 2007


On Wed, March 21, 2007 7:14 am, Marcelo Coelho said:

> I've seen the LinuxBios presentation and I'd like to know if there is
> a technical reason that would prevent the creation and distribution of
> binary BIOS files, ready to be flashed onto the motherboard's BIOS.
>
> If that could be done, then the possibility of a developer signing a
> NDA with Intel to develop a BIOS for it could be done, right?

LinuxBIOS code is licensed under the GPL, which requires the source code
to be made available on request. That prevents binary-only distributions.
Besides, what's the benefit of a binary-only LinuxBIOS over a binary-only
PhoenixBIOS?

That said, it may be possible to write GPL'd source code based on
documents provided under NDA. It all depends on the specific terms of the
NDA. There is no such thing as a "standard" NDA.

-- 

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Reece R. Pollack                                  301.461.2653
Principal Engineer                       reece at ThePTRGroup.com
www.ThePTRGroup.com              Embedded, Real-Time Solutions
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