On 01/08/2010 12:26 AM, Greg KH wrote:
If the kernel loads a firmware file that is not free, or if the device itself has a firmware in it that you can not change so easily, has _nothing_ to do with the license of the kernel,
I don't think anybody is concerned about the license of "the kernel", but rather the license of sys-kernel/gentoo-sources. Gentoo-sources contains "the kernel" as well as a bunch of other stuff (documentation, firmware, etc). It can only have a single license if EVERYTHING installed by the package is usable under that single license.
The LICENSE in an ebuild pertains to the package - not just to the largest component or majority of the package. Very few people install gentoo-sources mainly to read the docs or get a firmware blob, but they are still there, and the license should reflect this.
