[oc] sparc licensing (was: OpenCore In the news)

["Jecel Assumpcao Jr." <jecel@merlintec.com>]

Jimmy wrote:
> In fact, sometimes I don't want to use the Verilog RTL code
> of GPLed SPARC cores.  Instead, I wish they can let SPARC
> ISA free!!!

The license under which the Verilog sources for the Sparc core is the "Sun
Community License", not the GPL. I will comment on the differences below.

The Sparc ISA has been under control of Sparc International since the late
1980s. Sun is, of course, the founding member of that organization. You can see
http://www.sparc.org for more details. The ISA itself has always been free
(like the specs for other Sun technologies, such as the NFS).

> It seems that you still have to pay Sun when you use
> GPLed SPARC cores. Am I wrong at this point?

The Sparc cores are not available to everyone, only to the members of the"Sun
Community". Of course, since anyone can become a member for free, this isn't
much of a restriction. Their license has two levels: research and internal
deployment. For commercial use you have to negotiate a new license with them
where you have to pay royalties (always on a fixed per unit basis).

I hope this helps,
-- Jecel