Huawei signs non-aggression patent pact with membership of Open Invention Network
(2020/04/02)
- Reference: 1585820704
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/02/huawei_open_invention_network/
- Source link:
Huawei has become a licensee member of the Open Invention Network (OIN), which agrees to cross-license Linux patents to one another royalty free and to any organisation that agrees not to assert its patents against Linux.
The Chinese tech giant is already a long-standing member of the Linux Foundation and other open-source groups, including the OpenStack Foundation and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. In October 2019, the company also became a Strategic Member of the Eclipse Foundation, [1]stating : "At Huawei, we prefer to have both open source software and open governance around our projects."
Trade sanctions against Huawei and [2]issues with Google licences may also be a factor behind the company's further embrace of open source.
OIN CEO Keith Bergelt told The Register he is delighted with the news. "It's probably one of the top five companies that we have been chasing for quite some time. I think my first conversations with Huawei were nine years ago. Back then Huawei wasn't doing that much in open source, but in the last six and a half years, Huawei has become very committed to open source and very active as a member of the board of the Linux Foundation. Among equipment suppliers Huawei has been a model."
What of the company's controversial status today? "Whether that's justified or not, I have no opinion and no knowledge," said Bergelt. "All I know is what I have observed relative to their relationship to the open-source community."
Bergelt told us that the political pressure on Huawei has given the company's leadership "a very strong sense of its positioning and its responsibility. It not only has to be a good citizen of the community that it's part of in open source, but it has to be a model citizen."
He agreed that Huawei is attempting to protect itself. "Whether it's Harmony [the [3]OS being developed by Huawei for IoT and possibly more], or the agreement struck by SoftBank and the Chinese government to ensure [4]access to Arm code irrespective of US policy, there's a whole series of things which fit together as part of insulating themselves from the vagaries and unpredictable elements of bilateral relationships."
Bergelt said there is a "major sense of momentum" towards open source in China and that more companies are expected to join. "We'd love to see ZTE; we'd love to see China Telecom and China Mobile," he told us. Although there are now more than 3,200 OIN licensees, some notable companies are missing. Outside China, "Amazon is another significant target," Bergelt said, as is Samsung. ®
[1] https://blog.huawei.com/2019/10/22/huawei-becomes-a-strategic-member-of-the-eclipse-foundation/
[2] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/08/29/huawei_ditch_google_apps/
[3] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/12/10/huawei_harmony_os_2020/
[4] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/10/26/arm_huawei_china_ip_licensing/
The Chinese tech giant is already a long-standing member of the Linux Foundation and other open-source groups, including the OpenStack Foundation and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. In October 2019, the company also became a Strategic Member of the Eclipse Foundation, [1]stating : "At Huawei, we prefer to have both open source software and open governance around our projects."
Trade sanctions against Huawei and [2]issues with Google licences may also be a factor behind the company's further embrace of open source.
OIN CEO Keith Bergelt told The Register he is delighted with the news. "It's probably one of the top five companies that we have been chasing for quite some time. I think my first conversations with Huawei were nine years ago. Back then Huawei wasn't doing that much in open source, but in the last six and a half years, Huawei has become very committed to open source and very active as a member of the board of the Linux Foundation. Among equipment suppliers Huawei has been a model."
What of the company's controversial status today? "Whether that's justified or not, I have no opinion and no knowledge," said Bergelt. "All I know is what I have observed relative to their relationship to the open-source community."
Bergelt told us that the political pressure on Huawei has given the company's leadership "a very strong sense of its positioning and its responsibility. It not only has to be a good citizen of the community that it's part of in open source, but it has to be a model citizen."
He agreed that Huawei is attempting to protect itself. "Whether it's Harmony [the [3]OS being developed by Huawei for IoT and possibly more], or the agreement struck by SoftBank and the Chinese government to ensure [4]access to Arm code irrespective of US policy, there's a whole series of things which fit together as part of insulating themselves from the vagaries and unpredictable elements of bilateral relationships."
Bergelt said there is a "major sense of momentum" towards open source in China and that more companies are expected to join. "We'd love to see ZTE; we'd love to see China Telecom and China Mobile," he told us. Although there are now more than 3,200 OIN licensees, some notable companies are missing. Outside China, "Amazon is another significant target," Bergelt said, as is Samsung. ®
[1] https://blog.huawei.com/2019/10/22/huawei-becomes-a-strategic-member-of-the-eclipse-foundation/
[2] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/08/29/huawei_ditch_google_apps/
[3] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/12/10/huawei_harmony_os_2020/
[4] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/10/26/arm_huawei_china_ip_licensing/
"What of the company's controversial status today?"
Pascal Monett
Yes, what of it ?
Where is the proof that there is anything to be controversial about ?
The only controversy about Huawei is why the US Government is harping on about it without ever bringing any concrete evidence to the table. And you can fuck right off about national security concerns. Huawei equipment is publicly available, anyone can snap a pic of a suspicious motherboard, yet no one has.
This bullshit has been going on for longer than I care to remember, and I'm sick of it.
Re: "What of the company's controversial status today?"
Tom 38
Lots of people are saying that every Huawei phone exported is first sent to Wuhan, where 3 people cough on it and then a Pangolin licks it, I've heard.Smart people, the best people. You won't hear this in the Fake News.
Re: "What of the company's controversial status today?"
John G Imrie
You are Donald Trump and I claim my £5
Linux lock-in
I'd assumed the article incorrectly quoted their mission as ".....any organisation that agrees not to asset its patents against Linux", when it actually reads "........ patents against open source projects."
But, no, I checked their website, and The Register article is correct.
So.... another example of "Linux vendor lock-in".. Typical. Seems that - yet again - the old rants against MS don't apply when it's Linux..