RV-Debugger-BL702
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sipeed
FTDI emulation in violationg the driver License agreement
It is not legally OK to emulate FTDI devices, as the end user has to accept the FTDI License that prohibits the driver use with not genuine FTDI products.
as the end user has to accept the FTDI License that prohibits the driver use with not genuine FTDI products
According to this it's not illegal to emulate FTDI devices, it is illegal to use emulated devices. And only if you use it with an official FTDI driver. Kinda different thing.
What about using this in Linux ? I have not accepted any other (like FTDI) license than GPL/LGPL ?
What about using this in Linux ? I have not accepted any other (like FTDI) license than GPL/LGPL ?
The website provides tons of text everywhere when we try to download drivers, or even find these amoung the links to get the linux sourcecode.
FTDI drivers may be used only in conjunction with products based on FTDI parts.
FTDI drivers may be distributed in any form as long as license information is not modified.
https://ftdichip.com/drivers/vcp-drivers/
The licence only allows use of the Software with, and the Software will only work with Genuine FTDI Components (as defined in the Licence Terms). Use of the Software as a driver for a component that is not a Genuine FTDI Component MAY IRRETRIEVABLY DAMAGE THAT COMPONENT.
https://ftdichip.com/drivers/vcp-drivers/
1.5 The Software will not function properly on or with a component that is not a Genuine FTDI Component. Use of the Software as a driver for, or installation of the Software onto, a component that is not a Genuine FTDI Component, including without limitation counterfeit components, MAY IRRETRIEVABLY DAMAGE THAT COMPONENT. It is the Licensee’s responsibility to make sure that all chips it installs the Software on, or uses the Software as a driver for, are Genuine FTDI Components. If in doubt then contact the Licensor.
https://ftdichip.com/driver-licence-terms-details/
My conclusion however
But the linux source is probably independend from FTDI, when checking their website and downloading the provided linux sourcecode, there is no license file, only 2 example files from a linux device driver and 2 ftdi specific files, a boring header with the same "copyright" information as the main source file:
/*
* USB FTDI SIO driver
*
* Copyright (C) 1999 - 2001
* Greg Kroah-Hartman ([email protected])
* Bill Ryder ([email protected])
* Copyright (C) 2002
* Kuba Ober ([email protected])
*
* This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
* it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
* the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
* (at your option) any later version.
...
* See http://ftdi-usb-sio.sourceforge.net for upto date testing info
* and extra documentation
... (im skipping a few lines)
/* Bill Ryder - [email protected] - wrote the FTDI_SIO implementation */
/* Thanx to FTDI for so kindly providing details of the protocol required */
/* to talk to the device */
/* Thanx to gkh and the rest of the usb dev group for all code I have assimilated :-) */
ftdi_sio.c or https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/usb/serial/ftdi_sio.c
So.... this rabbit hole makes me consider the Linux version to be superiour, as its a opensouce implementation, allowed by FTDI due to them even hosting this source on their website. Im not a lawyer, not a attorney, neither am i legally schooled in my own country or where ever our conversation might be used. I find the Linux driver thus very usable with any device that the kernel connects with this driver, as we dont have to agree with any other licenses but the ones included with the kernel already.
