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Author Topic: OpenPCI now under GPL license  (Read 1729 times)

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Offline HeiroglyphTopic starter

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OpenPCI now under GPL license
« on: May 16, 2016, 02:41:39 AM »
I was given permission to LGPL the OpenPCI library some time ago and I've only just now gotten around to releasing it.

Builds of this version do not include support for Mediator PCI backplanes due to the NDA required.

If you release based on this version, please make that distinction clear.

The repository is here: https://github.com/jeperk/OpenPCI

Edit: This is not my work, this is courtesy of Benjamin Vernoux who graciously allowed the community to benefit from all his hard work.

Edit 2: Now under LGPL due to problematic nature of GPL and linking in Amiga-like systems.
« Last Edit: May 17, 2016, 02:39:17 AM by Heiroglyph »
 

Offline Acill

Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2016, 04:11:40 AM »
Its a shame we cant have Mediator support in this version. Elbox doesnt seem to care about getting more hardware support out and only cares about selling the busboards.
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Offline Cosmos

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Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2016, 05:10:39 AM »
Good news !

I have few questions :
Why no Mediator part ?
Why NDA required ?
Some code is secret ?

I just wanna understand...



Thanks,

Offline HeiroglyphTopic starter

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Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2016, 05:13:56 AM »
Quote from: Acill;808551
Its a shame we cant have Mediator support in this version. Elbox doesnt seem to care about getting more hardware support out and only cares about selling the busboards.


I agree, it's a shame.

If they want to make changes so that it's possible without NDA I'll consider working on it, but IMHO closed source core components on a retro OS is a dead end.

Mainly I wanted the ability for the community to fix bugs and support future PCI boards (backplanes, CPU boards with onboard PCI devices, etc.) without having to start from scratch.

New PCI adapters could come into being with existing OpenPCI drivers already working on them.
 

Offline HeiroglyphTopic starter

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Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #4 on: May 16, 2016, 05:16:58 AM »
Quote from: Cosmos;808556
Good news !

I have few questions :
Why no Mediator part ?
Why NDA required ?
Some code is secret ?

I just wanna understand...



Thanks,

To build with the Mediator supported, you have to sign their NDA and get their secret SDK.

I think the NDA is counterproductive to the community, so I won't sign.

It's GPL rather than MIT license so that community work can't be taken advantage of by closed source companies unless they also open the source they link to.

Edit: That's not to say that someone couldn't take this plus the Aros and NetBSD sources and make it work without any closed source components though.
« Last Edit: May 16, 2016, 05:19:48 AM by Heiroglyph »
 

Offline Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #5 on: May 16, 2016, 07:55:13 AM »
Noob question, but what good is the OpenPCI.library without Mediator support?  Does it work with other bus boards that contain PCI slots?

In any case, kudos for releasing more Amiga software to the community.  :)
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Offline wawrzon

Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #6 on: May 16, 2016, 09:59:50 AM »
"openpci" should have been open from the beginning. i fear now it may be too late to have any notable impact. aros has chosen against this standard, and gpl would probably be considered virulent, practically prohibiting commercial extensions and usage.
 

Offline HeiroglyphTopic starter

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Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #7 on: May 16, 2016, 02:48:02 PM »
Quote from: Oldsmobile_Mike;808562
Noob question, but what good is the OpenPCI.library without Mediator support? Does it work with other bus boards that contain PCI slots?


Yes. It supports Prometheus, GRex, Amithlon and Morphos. I may be forgetting some.

Now that the source is available, it can work with newly designed boards without rewriting existing OpenPCI drivers.

Having it available to the community for bug fixes and example code is IMHO the biggest benefit.

Quote

In any case, kudos for releasing more Amiga software to the community.  :)


Kudos should go to Benjamin Vernoux, it's his software, I just asked for permission and posted what he sent to me.
 

Offline HeiroglyphTopic starter

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Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #8 on: May 16, 2016, 02:57:02 PM »
Quote from: wawrzon;808565
"openpci" should have been open from the beginning. i fear now it may be too late to have any notable impact. aros has chosen against this standard, and gpl would probably be considered virulent, practically prohibiting commercial extensions and usage.


IMHO commercial extensions are not something we want.

You can still write OpenPCI drivers using the original SDK. That doesn't retroactively change licenses.

As long as we don't change the driver API, which is already very complete including DMA, etc. there is no problem there.

This does allow people to create new PCI hardware and all they have to do is make this OpenPCI.library compatible with their hardware.

If someone does add a new backplane to OpenPCI, then it will be well documented by the source code.

In ten years when they are tired of their project we can still use their hardware under future versions of OpenPCI, Aros, NetBSD, etc.
 

Offline Acill

Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #9 on: May 16, 2016, 03:59:09 PM »
So in reading this I have to assume that this will only be useful for any new hardware since none of the currently compatible PCI busboards are available any longer. That is a real shame. I am an Elbox Mediator owner and would love an alternative source for PCI drivers. A great example of 3rd party support for Mediator was the Ultra SCSI cards that got supported and now the Sonnet PPC cards. Sadly both are also no longer manufactured and very limited.
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Offline HeiroglyphTopic starter

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Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #10 on: May 16, 2016, 04:06:41 PM »
This version of OpenPCI.library doesn't support the Mediator, but existing versions of OpenPCI.library do support the Mediator.

OpenPCI drivers should work with either version of OpenPCI.library as long as we don't break the driver API.

I see no reason to change the driver API as of now, it looks good to me.

I do want to do a full version bump on the OpenPCI.library to indicate that it doesn't currently support Mediators and make a new release though.

Possibly someone will be able to add open source Mediator support, but it's not strictly needed at the moment.
 

Offline Acill

Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #11 on: May 16, 2016, 04:24:21 PM »
So you are forking openPCI? I don't see how this is helpful to the community at all. It will only introduce confusion and break users systems when they think they are installing an update and didn't read the docs, as most don't when installing new software from my experiences.
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Offline HeiroglyphTopic starter

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Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #12 on: May 16, 2016, 04:50:37 PM »
Quote from: Acill;808584
So you are forking openPCI? I don't see how this is helpful to the community at all. It will only introduce confusion and break users systems when they think they are installing an update and didn't read the docs, as most don't when installing new software from my experiences.


That's very valid.

First, it's not a fork. OpenPCI was abandoned and no longer developed. This is an original developer condoned continuation of OpenPCI by new developers.

Nothing has been released yet, so no user confusion.

Until there is a reason to release it (new hardware, significant bugs fixed, open source Mediator support) then it's probably best not to make a release.

Mainly I wanted to save the code from being completely lost.
 

Offline Acill

Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #13 on: May 16, 2016, 05:00:57 PM »
Saving the code is a good thing, I didn't realize the original OpenPCI wasn't being maintained any longer. Doesn't anyone on the MorphOS and AROS teams do development on it? I thought both were using it as the solution for PCI card expansion.
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Offline Alexco

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Re: OpenPCI now under GPL license
« Reply #14 on: May 16, 2016, 05:57:05 PM »
Maybe I am blind, but for me the code looks like it is just support for Prometheus PCI bridge included. Where can I find the G-Rex support code?