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Path: sparky!uunet!mcsun!news.funet.fi!hydra!klaava!torvalds
From: torv...@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Torvalds)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd,comp.os.linux
Subject: Re: Port of new Linux math emulator to 386bsd?
Keywords: math emulator, port
Message-ID: <1992Nov4.111732.9703@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
Date: 4 Nov 92 11:17:32 GMT
References: <1992Nov4.021453.22896@citec.oz.au>
Organization: University of Helsinki
Lines: 16

In article <1992Nov4.0...@citec.oz.au> sgc...@citec.oz.au (Steve Hocking) writes:
>
>	Looking at the latest Linux release and user comments on it, it
>appears that a new math emulator has been written which is more complete and
>accurate, plus about 2x faster. Does anybody have plans to port this to
>386bsd (since we got the original emulator from Linux anyway)?

The problem is the copyright: it's copylefted code by Bill Metzenthen,
so you cannot distribute it under the 386bsd copyright.  The original
emulator I wrote was also originally copylefted, but I gave Bill and
Lynne the right to use it under 386bsd (the copyright was changed to
something like "freely usable for the 386bsd and linux projects"). 
You'd have to ask permission from Metzenthen - his email address can be
found in the sources.

		Linus

Crossposted-To: comp.unix.bsd
From: os...@gemini.oscs.montana.edu (Nate Williams)
Subject: Re: Port of new Linux math emulator to 386bsd?
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1992 19:55:34 GMT

In article <1992Nov4.1...@klaava.Helsinki.FI> 
torv...@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Torvalds) writes:
|In article <1992Nov4.0...@citec.oz.au> sgc...@citec.oz.au (Steve Hocking) writes:
|>
|>      Looking at the latest Linux release and user comments on it, it
|>appears that a new math emulator has been written which is more complete and
|>accurate, plus about 2x faster. Does anybody have plans to port this to
|>386bsd (since we got the original emulator from Linux anyway)?
|
|The problem is the copyright: it's copylefted code by Bill Metzenthen,
|so you cannot distribute it under the 386bsd copyright.  The original
|emulator I wrote was also originally copylefted, but I gave Bill and
|Lynne the right to use it under 386bsd (the copyright was changed to
|something like "freely usable for the 386bsd and linux projects"). 
|You'd have to ask permission from Metzenthen - his email address can be
|found in the sources.

Since 386BSD already has GNU-copylefted code in it, I don't see why
using this emulator would be a problem, since :

1) The code will always be distributed with 386BSD
2) The code is only in the kernel.  The only time this code comes
   into play is when a non-FP machine executes FP code.  None of
   this code is compiled into binaries.

The only kicker I see in this is that maybe the Jolitz's don't want
any GNU code in the kernel itself, and don't mind the copylefted
utilities since they can be taken out as a whole w/out any loss of
functionality in 386BSD (other than the loss of that utility)

Comments?  Bill or Lynee?



Nate
-- 
os...@terra.oscs.montana.edu |  A hacker w/out a home. 
work: (406) 994-5991         |  Keeper of the Unofficial 386BSD Bug Report
home: (406) 586-0579         |  Please send bugs and/or fixes you find.