<li>The binary work in question contains modules from <code>k.b00</code>,
<code>vmlinux_9</code> and <code>tg3</code>.</li>
<li>VMware did not provide source code for any modules found in
<code>k.b00</code>.</li>
<li>Therefore, VMware failed to comply with the GPLv2, as such
compliance requires source code (or an offer therefor) for the material
in <code>k.b00</code>.</li>
</ul>
<p>The above is but one piece of evidence among many, but hopefully it helps
to explain some of the “combined work” violations found in
VMware's ESXi product. Conservancy did a similar analysis for ESXi 5.0
as well as ESXi 5.5 Update 2 and found nearly identical results.</p>
</p>details>
<dt id="verify">How can I verify Conservancy's technical findings above?</dt>
<details>
<summary id="verify">How can I verify Conservancy's technical findings above?</summary>
<dd><p>The binary and source packages mentioned above are available
<p><p>The binary and source packages mentioned above are available
on VMware's website. These packages contain the
previously-mentioned <code>linux_pci.c</code>,
<code>vmkapi_pci_incompat.h</code>, and <code>k.b00</code> files, as well as
<code>vmklinux_9</code> and the source code that builds the latter.</p>
<p>To speed up the process, Conservancy has provided
a <a href="https://git.sfconservancy.org/?p=vmkdrivers;a=summary">Git
repository that we built that includes the source components that VMware
released</a>, and which are discussed above in our examples. However, one
can also obtain the source components directly from VMware, by following
these steps (no login is required):</p>
...
@@ -568,120 +592,131 @@ the ISO (mentioned above), but the <code>vmtar</code> command itself is only
available when logged into an ESXi system. <code>vmtar</code> can be found
at <code>bin/vmtar</code> inside
<code>sb.v00</code> on the ISO, but one needs <code>vmtar</code> to open
<code>sb.v00</code>, similar to <code>misc_dri.v00</code> above.</li>
</ol>
<p>Note that VMware may present you with <abbr title="End User Licensing Agreement">EULA</abbr>s and <abbr title="Terms of Service">ToS</abbr> when you download
software from VMware's website. Conservancy strongly suggests that you review these
terms in great detail with the assistance of your own legal counsel before
downloading the software and/or engaging in the process that Conservancy
discusses above.</p>
</p>details>
<dt id="similarity-analysis">How do you know Christoph's code is present in
VMware's work?</dt>
<details>
<summary id="similarity-analysis">How do you know Christoph's code is present in
VMware's work?</summary>
<dd>Conservancy
<p>Conservancy
published <a href="/copyleft-compliance/vmware-code-similarity.html">its
comparison analysis between Christoph's code and VMware's code</a>. This
particular analysis uses a two step process: (a) use Linux's public Git logs
to find Christoph's contributions from Christoph, and (b) use a widely
accepted and heavily academically cited tool, CCFinderX, to show that VMware
copied Christoph's code into their product.</dd>
copied Christoph's code into their product.</p>
</details>
<dt id="appeal">I heard that Christoph's case was dismissed. Is that
true?</dt>
<details>
<summary id="appeal">I heard that Christoph's case was dismissed. Is that
true?</summary>
<dd>There was a ruling in July 2016 in the Hamburg District Court, which
<p>There was a ruling in July 2016 in the Hamburg District Court, which
dismissed Christoph's case against VMware. The ruling concerned German
evidence law and the Court did not rule on the merits of the case. The
ruling centered around German evidentary rules related to documenting
Christoph's contributions that appear in VMware's product.
In <a href="http://bombadil.infradead.org/~hch/vmware/2016-08-09.html">a
statement on his website</a>, Christoph Hellwig announced that he will
appeal the ruling. Christoph also published
(in <a href="http://bombadil.infradead.org/~hch/vmware/Urteil_2016-07-08.pdf">German</a>
and <a href="http://bombadil.infradead.org/~hch/vmware/Judgment_2016-07-08.pdf">English)
the Court's ruling</a> which explains why the materials submitted did not
satisfy German evidence rules — despite publicly available
information in Linux's Git repositories. In addition, the Court chose not
to seek expert testimony.</dd>
<dt id="statements-of-support">Have others issued statements of support about this action?</dt>
<dd>Various individuals and groups have publicly stated their support for
to see</p>details>
<details>k expert testimony.</p>
<summary id="statements-of-support">Have others issued statements of support about this action?</summary>
<p>Various individuals and groups have publicly stated their support for
Conservancy's and Hellwig's actions in this matter. They include:
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911061201/https://plus.google.com/104877287288155269055/posts/cHgyreA76yY">Dave Airlie, Linux Developer</a></li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/mjg59/status/573530001758294016">Matthew Garrett, Linux Developer</a></li>
<li><a href="/news/2015/mar/05/vmware-lawsuit/#glikely">Grant Likely, Linux Kernel Engineer</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mina86.com/2015/03/11/the-time-has-come-to-stand-up-for-the-gpl/">Michal Nazarewicz, Linux Developer</a></li>
<li><a href="http://lwn.net/Articles/635624/">Luis R. Rodriguez (aka mcgrof), Linux Developer</a></li>
<li><a href="http://lwn.net/Articles/635855/">Wolfram Sang, Linux Developer</a></li>