Page 1 of 1

Is making an AHCI driver legal?

Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 3:09 pm
by nexos
Hello,
I went to get the AHCI spec from Intel, and it said that I need a license to implement it. Does that mean it is illegal if I dont have that license?
Thanks,
nexos

Re: Is making an AHCI driver legal?

Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 7:09 pm
by Ethin
I significantly doubt it. I believe that only applies to implementors of the hardware specification, not the software one.

Re: Is making an AHCI driver legal?

Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 7:27 pm
by nexos
I re-read, and looks that way too @Ethin.

Re: Is making an AHCI driver legal?

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2020 1:08 am
by Octacone
Yes it is legal. But anyways, nobody would give a damn even if it weren’t.

Re: Is making an AHCI driver legal?

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:58 pm
by austanss
As a hobbyist, I seriously doubt anyone would give a ****.

If you were maintaining an OS on the scale of, say, Windows, then you could get into legal trouble (lawsuits) with Intel.

Re: Is making an AHCI driver legal?

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 6:12 pm
by kotovalexarian
I'd like to note that I don't know any law in any jurisdiction that can prohibit you to just implement a driver. Some laws prohibit reverse engineering and code distribution (just use anonymous accounts).