[gentoo-dev] Patches for MPPE/MPPC

[gentoo-dev] Patches for MPPE/MPPC

[Cory Visi]

Hi all. I am working on some ppp bugs and I noticed there is an excellent 
kernel patch for MPPE/MPPC available for both 2.4 and 2.6 kernel versions:

http://www.polbox.com/h/hs001/

There have been existing patches similar to this one available for a long 
time. However, the author of this patch effectively differentiates his 
patches here:

"Some day, digging in the Net, I found MPPE implementation at 
http://mirror.binarix.com/ppp-mppe/. I thought that it would be good to 
complete that code with MPPC and make it freely available. So I wrote MPPC 
part and added support for 56 bit keys in MPPE."

There may be some copyright issues with this patch. Here is another 
relavent quote from the above website:

"Although the module's source code is completely free, MPPC itself is 
patented algorithm. Patent for *Microsoft* PPC is holded by the Hifn Inc. 
This is obvious ;-). Furthermore, MPPE uses RC4 encryption algorithm 
which itself isn't patented, but RC4 is trademark of RSA Data Security 
Inc. To avoid legal problems, US citizens shouldn't use this module."

I have two questions for everyone:
1. Can I include the ppp patch in the ppp ebuild? How do I do it legally?
2. Can we include the kernel patch in the gentoo-sources base patch set? 
How do we do it legally?

Thanks,
Cory

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Re: [gentoo-dev] Patches for MPPE/MPPC

[Mike Frysinger]

On Wednesday 25 August 2004 01:24 pm, Cory Visi wrote:
> "Although the module's source code is completely free, MPPC itself is
> patented algorithm. Patent for *Microsoft* PPC is holded by the Hifn Inc.
> This is obvious ;-). Furthermore, MPPE uses RC4 encryption algorithm
> which itself isn't patented, but RC4 is trademark of RSA Data Security
> Inc. To avoid legal problems, US citizens shouldn't use this module."

i dont think the trademark will cause any trouble at all, but you could try 
e-mailing the patent holders and see what they think ;)
-mike

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Re: [gentoo-dev] Patches for MPPE/MPPC

[John Huttley]

Hi

 I use this kernel patch with 2.6.8-gentoo-
with no problem. The latest ppp seems to works just fine without
patching. It even detects MS-CHAP_V2 and MPPE without having to put any
options in the ppp options file.

The only quirk seems to be that it seems to come up with statefull
rather than stateless.

Putting this in the gentoo patches for a kernel would be very worth
while.

Regards

john


> 
> I have two questions for everyone:
> 1. Can I include the ppp patch in the ppp ebuild? How do I do it legally?
> 2. Can we include the kernel patch in the gentoo-sources base patch set? 
> How do we do it legally?
> 
> Thanks,
> Cory
> 
> --
> gentoo-dev@gentoo.org mailing list
> 
> 


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Re: [gentoo-dev] Patches for MPPE/MPPC

[Jan Dubiec]

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 17:24:50 +0000, Cory Visi <merlin@gentoo.org> wrote:
> Hi all. I am working on some ppp bugs and I noticed there is an excellent 
> kernel patch for MPPE/MPPC available for both 2.4 and 2.6 kernel versions:
Thanks ;-)

[.....]
> 1. Can I include the ppp patch in the ppp ebuild? How do I do it legally?
IMO the *pppd* patch can be included because it doesn't contain actual MPPC
code. MPPC (de)compresion routines are located in the *kernel* patch.

> 2. Can we include the kernel patch in the gentoo-sources base patch set? 
> How do we do it legally?
IMO, if Gentoo servers are outside the USA (e.g. in the EU), the patches
could be included. Although I am not a lawyer.

I have one question - does somebody of you know if my patches are included
in an unofficial Gentoo sources? I am asking because I am receiving a lot
of emails from people who use Gentoo and my patches. They use "stdopt"
(e.g. ppp-2.4.2-stdopt-mppe-mppc-1.1.patch.gz) version of the pppd patch.
It has MPPE/MPPC related options compatible with original pppd-2.4.2.
Unfortunately, because of that it inherits also a few drawbacks of the
original. So if you decide to include my patches into Gentoo sources, I
recommend using non-"stdopt" pppd patch (i.e. ppp-2.4.2-mppe-mppc-1.1.patch.gz).
I generates much less email traffic from unexperienced users.
 
Regards,
/J.D.
-- 
Jan Dubiec, jdx#slackware.pl, mobile: +48 506 790442

Głęboka wiara wymaga płytkiego rozumu i nikłej wiedzy.

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Re: [gentoo-dev] Patches for MPPE/MPPC

[Jan Dubiec]

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 20:25:27 +1200, John Huttley <john@mwk.co.nz> wrote:
[.....]
> The only quirk seems to be that it seems to come up with statefull
> rather than stateless.
Both modes are supported - there is appropriate option. Use "mppe stateless"
or "mppe required,stateless". This refers to non-"stdopt" pppd patch - that
one marked as recommended on my page. In my previous email I forgot to write
that in the future I am going to drop development of the "stdopt" patch.

Regards,
/J.D.
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Jan Dubiec, jdx#slackware.pl, mobile: +48 506 790442

Głęboka wiara wymaga płytkiego rozumu i nikłej wiedzy.

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Re: [gentoo-dev] Patches for MPPE/MPPC

[Cory Visi]

Jan, thanks for the reply! It was a pleasant surprise to find out that you 
read our list :)

I plan to switch to the non-"stdopt" ppp patch in the next release (not 
without lots of warnings and notices, fellow Gentoo users). Sorry for all 
the bug traffic this may have caused you.

Thanks,
Cory

On Sun, Aug 29, 2004 at 01:02:09PM +0200, Jan Dubiec wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 17:24:50 +0000, Cory Visi <merlin@gentoo.org> wrote:
> > Hi all. I am working on some ppp bugs and I noticed there is an excellent 
> > kernel patch for MPPE/MPPC available for both 2.4 and 2.6 kernel versions:
> Thanks ;-)
> 
> [.....]
> > 1. Can I include the ppp patch in the ppp ebuild? How do I do it legally?
> IMO the *pppd* patch can be included because it doesn't contain actual MPPC
> code. MPPC (de)compresion routines are located in the *kernel* patch.
> 
> > 2. Can we include the kernel patch in the gentoo-sources base patch set? 
> > How do we do it legally?
> IMO, if Gentoo servers are outside the USA (e.g. in the EU), the patches
> could be included. Although I am not a lawyer.
> 
> I have one question - does somebody of you know if my patches are included
> in an unofficial Gentoo sources? I am asking because I am receiving a lot
> of emails from people who use Gentoo and my patches. They use "stdopt"
> (e.g. ppp-2.4.2-stdopt-mppe-mppc-1.1.patch.gz) version of the pppd patch.
> It has MPPE/MPPC related options compatible with original pppd-2.4.2.
> Unfortunately, because of that it inherits also a few drawbacks of the
> original. So if you decide to include my patches into Gentoo sources, I
> recommend using non-"stdopt" pppd patch (i.e. ppp-2.4.2-mppe-mppc-1.1.patch.gz).
> I generates much less email traffic from unexperienced users.

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Re: [gentoo-dev] Patches for MPPE/MPPC

[Jan Dubiec]

On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 04:09:16 +0000, Cory Visi <merlin@gentoo.org> wrote:
> Jan, thanks for the reply! It was a pleasant surprise to find out that you 
> read our list :)
I rather watch than read because I have seen Gentoo only on screenshots. :-)
I don't have time to give it a try. :-(

> I plan to switch to the non-"stdopt" ppp patch in the next release (not 
> without lots of warnings and notices, fellow Gentoo users). Sorry for all 
> the bug traffic this may have caused you.
OK. If you need help with configuration, drop me an email.

Regards,
/J.D.
-- 
Jan Dubiec, jdx#slackware.pl, mobile: +48 506 790442

Głęboka wiara wymaga płytkiego rozumu i nikłej wiedzy.

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