Nvidia legal to use by end-users?

Nvidia legal to use by end-users?

[Don Bedsole]

Hi,
Question: If I download and install the Nvidia graphics card drivers from 
their site, am I violating the GPL as an end-user?  I was thinking the the 
GPL mainly covered what you are allowed or not allowed to do if you 
distribute software.  I ask because I saw on the OpenSuse site a statement to 
the effect that OpenSuse would not ship Nvidia, Ati drivers because some 
kernel developers consider them a violation of their copyrights.

Please CC any replies to dbedsole@carolina.rr.com

Thank you.

Re: Nvidia legal to use by end-users?

[Valdis.Kletnieks]

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On Thu, 18 May 2006 16:50:52 EDT, Don Bedsole said:
> Question: If I download and install the Nvidia graphics card drivers from
> their site, am I violating the GPL as an end-user?  I was thinking the the
> GPL mainly covered what you are allowed or not allowed to do if you
> distribute software.  I ask because I saw on the OpenSuse site a statement to
> the effect that OpenSuse would not ship Nvidia, Ati drivers because some
> kernel developers consider them a violation of their copyrights.

Users, in general, can't violate the GPL.  You're free to do whatever you
want to your own system.  As long as you don't further give the drivers to
others, you're in the clear.

The reason OpenSuse won't ship it is because they *would* be giving the
drivers to others.  And one of these days NVidia may have to address the
status of the binary blobs they distribute (their non-Linux blob and
open shim layer isn't obviously illegal, but it isn't obviously legal either).

But if you download an NVidia driver for use on *your* system, and never
redistribute it, NVidia may have a problem for distributing it to *you*,
but you're in the clear.

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Re: Nvidia legal to use by end-users?

[Bernd Petrovitsch]

On Thu, 2006-05-18 at 16:50 -0400, Don Bedsole wrote:
[...]
> Question: If I download and install the Nvidia graphics card drivers from 
> their site, am I violating the GPL as an end-user?  I was thinking the the 

No (if you only download, use and/or change it).

> GPL mainly covered what you are allowed or not allowed to do if you 
> distribute software.  I ask because I saw on the OpenSuse site a statement to 

Exactly. Which is the proof that an end-user (which per definition
doesn't distribute sofwtare) cannot violate the GPL.

> the effect that OpenSuse would not ship Nvidia, Ati drivers because some 
> kernel developers consider them a violation of their copyrights.

OpenSuse is obviously not an enduser and - as a "software distributor" -
must care about the GPL.
JftSoC: This doesn't state any opinion about OpenSuse violating the
license if they distribute said drivers from Nvidia.

	Bernd
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