Castle Technology UK Ripping off Kernel Code?

Jonathan Riddell writes "`It would appear that Castle Technology Limited, UK, have taken some of the Linux 2.5 code, and incorporated it into their own product, "RISC OS", which is distributed in binary ROM form built into machines they sell. This code is linked with other proprietary code.' Full details from Russell King on lkml."

Test for the GPL

[Picass0]

Let's see if the goat has teeth!

Wait only the consumer is a pirate.

[HanzoSan]

Corperate Piracy is ok, its only when people share without profiting that its Piracy.

This is why Linux is bad but Shared source is ok.

Just call Michael Robertson for more info.

They've recieved one warning

[Anonymous Coward]

And apparantly it just resulted in them trying to better hide the incriminating code in later versions of the product.

Okay, then. Let's get everybody forming into single-file lines; you'll receive your pitchforks on the left, torches on the right. Please, no shoving, there will be plenty for everyone.

Yeah and they even intend to make YOU buy it

[HanzoSan]

They want to sell you stuff they stole, they should be raided by the RIAA!!! Get Em Hilary Rosen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KING writes about CASTLE?

[monadicIO]

Is this for real?

Re:Sue them

[HanzoSan]

Lets see, uh Linus?

I'll tell you what, if he doesnt sue, then I'll take the kernel and release a closed source version of Linux with it and call it LinaazaOS

Re:Sue them

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, thats the solution to everything. Sue.

Re:Pirates!

[wcmcgr]

isn't it a little ironic a messanger titled "IntegrityMessenger" ripping off someone elses code?

Re:Sue them

[Idou]

"Yeah, thats the solution to everything."

It is if you are a lawyer ;)

Modern Pillory

[franzzup]

They will suffer an appropriate, contemporary form of stoning. The story will be reposted on Slashdot until they flee in terror from the smoking remains of their Internet uplink.

Re:Pirates!

[wcmcgr]

hahah.. That is even better.. I didn't notice that.. wonder if god made them do it?

No, it's like putting. . .

[kfg]

VC on your front porch, all radioactively tagged, with a sign that says,"Please help yourself to some capital, but if you make any money put something back in."

Oh, and this is magical VC, so as soon as you take something out it's still got the same amount in the box. Nifty, huh?

So, there's no real harm in taking out. No one "loses" anything. But if you take out, make money, and don't put back in you become what is technically known as a "shit head."

And even the law has been known to formally uphold what it is generally refered to as the "social contract."

Now the only question is what are armed South Vietnamese dissidents are doing on the front porch in the first place.

KFG

What's really stupid...

[Wntrmute]

...Is that they could have borrowed code from a BSD instead, and no one would care, as the license specifically permits it.

If these allegations are true, not only are they violating the GPL, they're morons to boot. :-)

Yeah they should have known better

[cscx]

They should have known better and instead stole code from *BSD, with no implications whatsoever.

Re:Modern Pillory

[Lancer]

The story will be reposted on Slashdot until they flee in terror from the smoking remains of their Internet uplink.

Actually, odds are good the story would be reposted on Slashdot either way ;)

LART

[devnull17]

According to ESR's Jargon File [jargon.org], a LART (Luser Attitude Readjustment Tool) is a large, blunt object used to smack some sense into people who do offensive (or offensively stupid) things. Could be just the thing here...

audacity

[(startx)]

From this [iyonix.com] page on their website,

Note that the source code for many of the Linux PCI device drivers is publicly available on the Internet and may be useful in developing the corresponding RISC OS device driver.

While not coming right out and saying it, they are suggesting that if you are writing a driver for hardware for their machine, to go grab the linux kernel source code and copy as much as you can. Also, the rest of the PCI documentation on that page looks familiar, but I can't place it.

Get a life

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know what is more disturbing: Somebody disgracing the sacred GPL for profit (GASP!), or the fact that somebody else actually examined a binary ROM looking for the binary signatures of Linux kernel functions.

One of the two needs to get a life (I'll leave it up to you to decide who).

I don't know what is more disturbing: a hacker mentioned on slashdot who needs to get a life, or somebody posting to slashdot on a Friday evening saying the hacker needs to get a life.

One of the two needs to get a life (I'll leave it up to you to decide who).

reminds me of a story...

[newsdee]

I don't remember who it was (probably somebody here does), but there was once this company suing another for stealing their source.

Of course the defendants blatantly denied everything and asked for proof. So in front of the judge and the rest of the audience, one of the programmers nonchalantly typed a sequence of keys on the defendant's software and... a huge easter egg showing the name of the original programmers appeared on the screen. :-)

Too bad they changed the function signatures, such a definite victory may not be obtainable in court this time. But I sure hope a good precedent comes out of this.

Er....maybe....

[deanj]

....maybe they thought it was just an new MP3 file, and shared it with everyone...nothing wrong with that is there?

Double standards...gotta love it.

Re:Sue them

[7-Vodka]

When all you have is a hammer.. everything starts to look like nails >:)

now if only

[W0lphAU]

If only we cold discover linux source being used by microsoft. The war would be won.

Re:why is anyone that stupid

[Gadzinka]

Perheaps it is because those BSD codebases aren't that good after all...

Robert