https://www.itwire.com/open-source/linux-kernel-patch-maker-says-court-case-was-only-way-out.html
The head of security firm Open Source Security, Brad Spengler, says he had little option but to file a lawsuit against open source advocate Bruce Perens, who alleged back in 2017 that security patches issued for the Linux kernel by OSS violated the licence under which the kernel is distributed.
The case ended last week with Perens coming out on the right side of things; after some back and forth, a court doubled down on its earlier decision that OSS must pay Perens' legal costs as awarded in June 2018.
The remainder of the article is an interview with Brad Spengler about the case and the issue.
iTWire contacted Spengler soon after the case ended, as he had promised to speak at length about the issue once all legal issues were done and dusted. Queries submitted by iTWire along with Spengler's answers in full are given below:
Previously:
Court Orders Payment of $259,900.50 to Bruce Perens' Attorneys
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 17 2020, @09:19AM
>Linus (and the Linux Foundation) now have a very strong don't go to court approach to violations, they try to use velvet gloves wherever possible, so the truthiness of Bruce's conclusion will never be decided in court.
That is not necessarily true. I don't know if you're ignorant or not, but neither Linus nor the Linux Foundation own the linux kernel copyrights in-toto. Linus never required copyright assignment. Any copyright holder who's work is touched by grsecurity can sue them for direct copyright infringement. That is potentially 1000s of claimants (which can be joined into one suit). Neither Linus nor the Linux Foundation would have any say.
I don't know why you say there can't be a court battle? You're just wrong.