[BLUG] Linux in HDTVs

Just an observation/story, and perhaps one that everyone else knows
about, but I was surprised...

I don't deal much with TVs, but that didn't stop my somewhat-elderly
neighbors from asking me if I could come over and help them get their
new Comcast HD setup running with their brand new HDTV. I was unable
to get it working, but that's another story....

While I was leafing through their multiple manuals, I found one
talking about licensing agreements for the TV. Whatever, right? But,
something jumped out at me... I think first I saw "gcc" and then the
word "preamble" near the beginning of the fine print... and I thought
"Holy %#^t! This is the GNU Public License!"

It was. Apparently the TV has an AMD chip of some sort in it and it's
running some kind of embedded linux with just a few features enabled.
This wasn't a guide to hacking the TV, this was a license, and I think
it included little more than what was required of them by law. But it
did list a few bits of software by name. curl, in particular, caught
my eye.

It must make RMS proud to know that corporate lawyers are now advising
their clients to include the GPL with TV sets because they are
including free software -- some of which he wrote -- in their products
like this. Actually, I'm sure it doesn't make him proud, he probably
still gripes about it for some reason. :)

David
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