[kwlug-disc] and just when you were about to give them some credit ...

[john at netdirect.ca]

kwlug-disc-bounces at kwlug.org wrote on 07/23/2009 07:30:31 AM:
> So is there any reasonable way to tell if a binary blob contains code
> which violates GPL?  Can one know how much "borrowed" code there is in
> the heart of something like Windows 7?
> 
> As an old B-movie actor once said: "Trust, but verify."

I suppose in the worst case where the perpetrator intended to hide the 
fact, one would have to use behaviour (intended an non-intended) to see 
the violation. For the ignorant aren't there various strings in unstripped 
code that be evidence? Also won't code compiled in the same way produce 
fairly similar results? There may be symbols exported or imported into the 
code giving some idea as to what it is about. An strace or ltrace could 
show a predictable sequence of calls.

In this case they are drivers so I'd expect them to be stripped, but have 
symbols and parameters, descriptions, etc.


John Van Ostrand
Net Direct Inc.
 
CTO, co-CEO
564 Weber St. N. Unit 12
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john at netdirect.ca
Ph: 866-883-1172
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Linux Solutions / IBM Hardware
Fx: 519-883-8533