Hypervisors Can Defeat GPLv3's Anti-Tivoization

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 28, 2007 @08:10AM from the walled-gardens dept.

DeviceGuru writes "A hypervisor can be used to isolate from each other software works released under incompatible licenses, while allowing them to run simultaneously on the same hardware. For example, Linux and Windows CE can run on separate virtual machines on one device, without violating either OS's license. Due to the isolation between multiple VMs running atop a hypervisor, it seems like this architecture could allow companies to build Linux-based devices, such as mobile phones or set-top boxes (think TiVo), that can't be upgraded by their users without authorization, thereby circumventing the GPLv3's 'anti-tivoization' clauses." Here's a white paper with more details from a commercial hypervisor company.

1 of 377 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Re:Bogus! by mmacdona86 · 2007-08-28 08:24 · Score: 5, Interesting

Note that the hypervisor doesn't prevent you from updating the GPL code (the Linux kernel, for example)--
it just prevents you from getting extra access to the machine by updating the code. Thus it allows "tivoization" without violating the letter (or arguably the spirit) of GPL v3. The GPL code you can hack and modify to your heart's content; the hypervisor just makes sure that said hacking doesn't compromise the machine.