KernelTrap: Tainting The Kernel

“The announcement of a new Forensic File System led into another
discussion of kernel tainting and the legality of binary-only
kernel modules. The discussion began because in the announcement it
was pointed out that, ‘the Core File System code is a separate
proprietary module and is not released under the GPL,’ and the
patch commented out kernel code that warned of the kernel becoming
tainted. Explaining the latter changes, Jeff Merkey said, ‘I object
to the use of the word ‘tainted’. This implies the binary code is
somehow infringing. I would suggest changing the word to ‘non-GPL’
or ‘Vendor Supported’ since this is more accurate…'”

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