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Dish Network Dishes Source Code for DVR
An anonymous reader writes "According to Dish
Network they are accommodating 'requests for the portions of the DISH 921
DVR source code that are subject to the GNU Public License, or GPL. In compliance
with the terms of the GPL, we are making this source code available to the public
to download. Please note that the DISH 921 DVR software also includes some proprietary
elements that are not subject to the GPL. You cannot create a working DISH 921
DVR software build without the additional proprietary code. Do not replace or
add any software to the DISH 921 DVR with items compiled from these source trees.
Doing so will void all warranties and cause the unit to fail.'"
"Do not replace or add any software to the DISH 921 DVR with items compiled from these source trees. Doing so will void all warranties and cause the unit to fail.'""
Is this the normal "no user-serviceable parts inside" caveat, or does it suggest that they, in fact, haven't released all the modifications to GPLed code in their product?
Everything in moderation, including moderation itself
"Do not replace or add any software to the DISH 921 DVR with items compiled from these source trees. Doing so will void all warranties and cause the unit to fail."
The whole point of the GPL is that users can make modify the code. If the deriviative code they have released cannot be loaded without rendering the unit unusable, then they have clearly violated the spirit of the GPL. Maybe they've found some kind of loophole, I don't know.
If the device will not work without linking in proprietary code, well, then they gots themselves a problem. But it's their problem, not the GPL's. Either the proprietary code goes, or the GPL code goes.
This is a little off topic, but it's nice to see Dish with a little honesty for a change. When I started EFT service after being with them for 2 years. They turned my service off for non-payment twice after the EFT had started withdrawing funds. Like clockwork, every 2 months it was turned off. When I called them, they turned it back on, but then I got charged a reconnect and late fees.
Second time I told them not to turn it back on and I was cancelling service. I turned around and got DTV that day and canelled any EFT from dish.
Long story short, 6 months later I got a collection letter for $400. Turns out they turned the service back on and charged me for 2 months of service I didn't use plus the receiver I sent back to them. The collections still there with a note saying that it's invalid. After numerous conversations, they still swear that I owe them 2 months of service and a receiver even though I've sent them records of the receiver sent back to them via UPS and the start date of my DTV service.
I've spoken with 9 different Dish customers that have had similar cases but kept service. I also had a friend that took a job with them. They even lied to him about working around his school. He ended up having to quit because they wouldn't schedule him around his classes.
Anyone paying Dish for service deserves the screwing they're getting.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act it is up to them to prove that you didn't cancel service and not the other way around. In a court case with your shipping information you have the preponderence of evidence. Send them a certified letter telling Dish they have 30-days to send you their evidence or they must cease all collection efforts. Be sure to reference the Reporting act and be sure to detail the damages you have suffered due to the lower credit score and higher interest rates they have caused. The Act specifies that recovery of damages is permissible. If they do not comply, talk to an attorney as you have a case. They count on people not knowing the rules....
Do not replace or add any software to the DISH 921 DVR with items compiled from these source trees. Doing so will void all warranties and cause the unit to fail.'"
Almost the whole point of the GPL is that you can do exactly this: you should be able to change the behavior of GPL'ed software components and replace the existing versions of it.
I suspect future versions of the GPL are going to try to limit these kinds of abuses: if you distribute systems containing GPL-derived binaries, you must ensure that people can reasonably replace your GPL'ed software components with components they recompiled. You should not be permitted to use either cryptographic means, warranties, patents, or proprietary development tools to prevent that.
Could people stop the open source religious wanking for a few minutes and work out if the code that has been released allows something usefull to be done? Its not like anything in this thread has not been said a few million times already.
OK they have checksums, big deal, look for the file with the checksums in it or find where the public key is stored. I would guess they do this because they update the player over the air.
There are three important mods to a DishPlayer that would dramatically improve the utility. The first is to enable that external expansion port so that an external disk can be plugged in.
The second is to enable some form of serial port for command input so that the device can be set to record remotely.
The third is to have a program that allows files stored on the hard drive to be read and copied. An NFS daemon would be nice but something less would be acceptable.
I would guess that the reason that Disphlayer do not want people changing the code in the dishplayer is that there might be a way to disable the 'call home' feature on the modem. If that is their concern then it is easy enough to fix, in fact I will even tell them how to put the fix in place for free if they make the other modifications.
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Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
What does this have to do with anything? You are free to make modifications to the code all you want... That does NOT mean they have to give you free license to propritary software that is necessary in addition to it, and it sure as hell doesn't mean they have to make their hardware work with anything you might want to run on it.
They are meeting their GPL obligations 100%.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
They are meeting their GPL obligations 100%.
They said that compiling the supplied source and replacing that portion of the code in the machine causes it to fail.
One of those two statements is false. Either they lied that it won't work, or you are wrong *and* they lied about complying with the GPL.
You are certainly correct that they do not need to give you any source to non-GPL files. You simply leave any non-GPL files in place.
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.