🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1k6rbg$caq@agate.berkeley.edu> jbuck@forney.berkeley.edu (Joe Buck) writes:

   In article <FRANL.93Jan27115049@draco.centerline.com> franl@centerline.com (Fran Litterio) writes:

   >I too have heard about work at the University of Utah to teach gcc/gdb
   >about HP debug info, but I have also heard that HP has effectively
   >killed that work by refusing to free the necessary header file.

   They've killed it even deader than that.  The Utah people have signed
   a nondisclosure agreement, meaning they could be sued if they reveal
   HP trade secrets even if they found some other way to do the job
   (without HP proprietary headers).  Either HP will need to relent,
   or someone else (who has not signed a nondisclosure) will need to
   do the work.

   I've had similar problems with HP, attempting to port a freely
   redistributable system to the HP.  This system does incremental linking,
   which is very tricky on the HP-PA architecture.  HP's attitude on things
   like this is not like other companies.  I could get the information,
   perhaps, by signing a nondisclosure (HP's rivals would simply send me
   the information), but that would prevent releasing free software that
   uses the ideas.

   To be fair, my contact at HP found me some non-HP experts to talk to
   so I could make some progress on my problem.  I'm still bothered by
   the fact that it is evidently against company policy to permit me
   to talk to an HP employee who, say, knows how the linker works.

   Given this attitude on the part of HP, I'd have to recommend that research
   organizations avoid the company until they have a change of policy -- it
   shouldn't be a secret as to how to do advanced programming on your
   workstation.  If it is, and you need to do this kind of programming, it
   might be a good idea to buy someone else's.

Even more to the point, should there not be a boycott of support for GNU
software on the HP platform?  It seems that, just as in cases of other
companies that are boycotted by FSF, HP has a policy that is directly
contrary to the survival of the free software idea (after all, if everyone
made like HP, where would free software be?  It's just like if Ford had
copyrighted the steering wheel, blah, blah, ... you get the idea).
--
Roland Dreier                                        dreier@math.berkeley.edu