ZFS comes to Debian, thanks to licensing workaround

The ZFS report gadget has come to famous Linux distribution Debian, however in a way the distro’s backers assume may not kick up every other row over compatibility of open supply licences.

Ubuntu sixteen.04 introduced ZFS, no matter pre-release grumblings from Richard Stallman to the impact that whatever licensed beneath the GNU GPL v2 can best be observed with the aid of code also launched under the GNU GPL v2. ZFS is issued beneath a not unusual improvement and Distribution License, model 1 (CDDLv1).

So how has Debian controlled to encompass ZFS in its unstable branch?

Debian’s determined to include the supply code simplest, in place of take Ubuntu’s approach of delivery pre-built kernel modules. And that supply code might be included in contrib, the archive Debian describes as containing “supplemental applications intended to work with the Debian distribution, but which require software outdoor of the distribution to both build or characteristic.”

in case you choose to bring together ZFS and run it, that’s your trouble. it is tough to mention just how large a problem, if most effective because it’s equally hard to assume how anybody could recognize what you are going for walks or who could sue you for doing some thing this is already eminently possible. The software program Freedom Conservancy does have form supporting cases in opposition to providers it feels breach the GPL, because the case against VMware indicates. however that case shows VMware has made open-supply code a key element of a industrial and closed-source product. this is a long way from an individual or company deciding to roll-their-own ZFS-on-Debian rig. ®