A partial ruling in the Vizio GPL suit

The judge in the Vizio GPL-compliance lawsuit has ruled, in asummary judgment, that the GNU General Public License, version2,does not require the provision of signing keys needed to install modifiedsoftware on a device.

Read as a whole, the Agreements require Vizio to make the sourcecode available in such a manner that the source code can be readilyobtained and modified by Plaintiff or other third parties. Whilesource code is defined to include "the scripts used to controlcompilation and installation," this does not mean that Vizio mustallow users to reinstall the software, modified or otherwise, backonto its smart TVs in a manner that preserves all features of theoriginal program and/or ensures the smart TVs continue to functionproperly. Rather, in the context of the Agreements, the disputedlanguage means that Vizio must provide the source code in a mannerthat allows the source code to be obtained and revised by Plaintiffor others for use in other applications.

As the Software Freedom Conservancy, the plaintiff in the case, has pointedout, the judge has ruled against a claim that was never actually made.

SFC has never held the position, nor do we today hold the position,that any version of the GPL (even including GPLv3!) require "thatthe device continues to function properly" after a user installstheir modified version of the copyleft components.

Linus Torvalds, meanwhile, has posted his own takeon the ruling that has, as one might imagine, sparked an extendeddiscussion as well.