Why are we here?
freedom!
to repair, modify, update our device (software)
"our source request was not made because we wanted [company] to go to the website of each project it uses and give us the tarball found on that website. If that's all the GPL required, it would be quite a silly make-work license. That's not what the GPL is; it requires..."
"the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the executable"
Enforcement, from violation report to compliance
report received (at compliance@sfconservancy.org)
triaging of report - GPL binaries given, no source/offer?
offer check, contact the company
complete corresponding source (CCS) check
back to contacting? how many times?
it works! get it to users! or...
file a lawsuit :(
Show me the source!
talk is cheap, let's see some code
sure, we've got source code candidates for you
https://sfconservancy.org/usethesource/
go ahead, try them out
or keep listening if you like
let's break it down...
The CCS check
"the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the executable"
therefore...
does it compile?
does it install?
oh, wait: is it "the complete corresponding ... source"?
Does it compile?
where is the README?
great! or let's try make...
need a certain OS? sure, use that...
ok, now I'm compiling!
uhoh, an error
is it my fault? if you followed the steps, no
or ... I got a firmware image!
Does it install?
let's find that README again...
one option: put it into that update UI
install, works?!
let's change something just to be sure
still works! or ...
uhoh, bricked my device :(
Is it "the complete corresponding ... source"?
proprietary kernel modules? * sigh *
any other non-source-code stuff?
generated stuff similar to stock image?
no problems - huzzah!!
Does it ...? No :(
contact the company
try really hard
file lawsuit :(
What can I do?
offer checks!
CCS checks!
let us know!
How do you really do GPL enforcement?
aka Bringing software right-to-repair to the masses
Denver Gingerich
SFSCON 2023
Friday 10 November 2023
https://ossguy.com/talks/20231110_sfscon/
