Xscale PXA250 RedBoot port

[Jonathan Larmour <jifl at jifvik dot org>]

This should be directed to someone responsible for XScale PXA250 
development. The "Contact us" stuff on the Intel website did not list 
anything for specifically embedded or Xscale contacts.

I am writing about the Intel XScale PXA250 RedBoot which I understand is 
supplied with your development boards. I also found it available at 
ftp://source.mvista.com/pub/xscale/pxa/ where although this is a 
Montavista site, the RedBoot code clearly has come from Intel. I cannot 
find it on the Intel site. However I believe Montavista is effectively 
acting as an agent for you in this respect, therefore I am addressing my 
comments to you.

I am a maintainer of the public eCos and RedBoot project at 
http://sources.redhat.com/ecos/

In the RedBoot source download is a file from Intel named SWlicence.pdf 
which purports to be a licence for the software included therein. However 
the software therein is in fact covered by the Red Hat eCos Public 
Licence, which therefore cannot simply be replaced by any licence which 
Intel may wish to put on it. Not only does SWlicence.pdf not mention the 
true licence which is poor practice at best, but it includes clauses that 
are contradictory. Particularly grating is that Intel purports to own full 
copyright in this licence, when in fact it owns nearly none. Similarly 
mistaken is the assertion in clause 2 that the included code may be 
copied, modified, compiled and distributed in customer's own products when 
in fact the terms of this are virtually the entire purpose of the RHEPL.

I must ask you to desist distributing this code under what is purported to 
be a different licence then the real licence. You may only distribute the 
code in accordance with the RHEPL. You must ensure that Montavista and any 
other vendors, agents and redistributors to which you supplied this code 
are made aware of this and similarly correct any licence file, and they in 
turn make this aware to anyone who may have received this erroneous 
licence so they are not placed under any false impressions about the terms 
licence of the software they may be using.

Please confirm to me that you will resolve this issue without delay, and 
the steps you will take to do so.

Jonathan Larmour
--
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