Linus Puts Kibosh On Banning Binary Kernel Modules

On LKML’s periodic GPL vs. binary kernel module discussion, Andrew Morton hinted that he favors refusing to load binary modules in 12 months. Greg Kroah-Hartman then posted a patch to do exactly that. Surprisingly Linus chimed in and called it ‘stupid’ and a ‘political agenda,’ and even compared it with the RIAA’s tactics.

As soon as this news was reported, it seemed highly unlikely that anything like this would ever come into play. If it had, it could easily spell a huge decline for Linux usage.