Microsoft opened Linux-driver code after 'violating' GPL

"After Redmond covered itself in glory by opening up the code, it now looks like it may have acted simply to head off any potentially embarrassing legal dispute over violation of the GPL. The rest was theater.

"As revealed by Stephen Hemminger - a principal engineer with open-source network vendor Vyatta - a network driver in Microsoft's Hyper-V used open-source components licensed under the GPL and statically linked to binary parts. The GPL does not permit the mixing of closed and open-source elements.

"This story emerged after Hemminger congratulated Microsoft on its decision to release the driver to GPL. Microsoft announced the move as part of a release of 20,000 lines of code to the GPL - an open-source license it has historically hated."

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