Is BFD extractable from Bird?
Hello Bird Team, I’m Sudarshan, a software developer at NetApp. I have been using Bird as a peer for testing BGP functionality of NetApp’s Ontap software stack. Thanks to the Bird community! I looked at Bird’s BFD implementation. Was wondering if it is even plausible to extract only the BFD functionality out of Bird and use it with our existing BGP implementation. I see that BFD is tightly integrated with Bird’s core software libraries and so it doesn’t look like a trivial lift and shift. That said, I wanted to check with this group to see if there is a way to do it. Appreciate your response. Thanks, Sudarshan
On Tue, 2022-11-15 at 10:48 +0000, Nallan Chakravarthy, Sudarshan via Bird-users wrote:
Hello Bird Team, I’m Sudarshan, a software developer at NetApp. I have been using Bird as a peer for testing BGP functionality of NetApp’s Ontap software stack. Thanks to the Bird community! I looked at Bird’s BFD implementation. Was wondering if it is even plausible to extract only the BFD functionality out of Bird and use it with our existing BGP implementation. I see that BFD is tightly integrated with Bird’s core software libraries and so it doesn’t look like a trivial lift and shift. That said, I wanted to check with this group to see if there is a way to do it. Appreciate your response. Thanks, Sudarshan
Hi Sudarshan, Before looking at the technical aspects if you haven't done so I suggest you reach for your company lawyers and ask them if using part of software under the GNU GPL v2+ is okay for your netapp project or not. https://gitlab.nic.cz/labs/bird/-/blob/master/README "This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version." Sincerely, Laurent
Hi Laurent, Thanks for your response. Indeed a valid question. I’m checking with my legal team on this. Regards, Sudarshan From: Laurent GUERBY <laurent@guerby.net> Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 7:15 AM To: Nallan Chakravarthy, Sudarshan <Sudarshan.NallanChakravarthy@netapp.com>, bird-users@trubka.network.cz <bird-users@trubka.network.cz> Subject: Re: Is BFD extractable from Bird? NetApp Security WARNING: This is an external email. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. On Tue, 2022-11-15 at 10:48 +0000, Nallan Chakravarthy, Sudarshan via Bird-users wrote:
Hello Bird Team, I’m Sudarshan, a software developer at NetApp. I have been using Bird as a peer for testing BGP functionality of NetApp’s Ontap software stack. Thanks to the Bird community! I looked at Bird’s BFD implementation. Was wondering if it is even plausible to extract only the BFD functionality out of Bird and use it with our existing BGP implementation. I see that BFD is tightly integrated with Bird’s core software libraries and so it doesn’t look like a trivial lift and shift. That said, I wanted to check with this group to see if there is a way to do it.
Appreciate your response.
Thanks, Sudarshan
Hi Sudarshan, Before looking at the technical aspects if you haven't done so I suggest you reach for your company lawyers and ask them if using part of software under the GNU GPL v2+ is okay for your netapp project or not. https://gitlab.nic.cz/labs/bird/-/blob/master/README "This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version." Sincerely, Laurent
Hi Laurent, I checked with the legal team. They don’t see any issues as long as the part of software(BFD) runs as a separate application under GPLv2 and doesn’t get linked to any of our proprietary code. Having clarified that, I would be interested to know if there is a way to make Bird’s BFD implementation a standalone application. Let me know. Thanks, Sudarshan From: Nallan Chakravarthy, Sudarshan <Sudarshan.NallanChakravarthy@netapp.com> Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 10:13 AM To: Laurent GUERBY <laurent@guerby.net>, bird-users@trubka.network.cz <bird-users@trubka.network.cz> Subject: Re: Is BFD extractable from Bird? Hi Laurent, Thanks for your response. Indeed a valid question. I’m checking with my legal team on this. Regards, Sudarshan From: Laurent GUERBY <laurent@guerby.net> Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 7:15 AM To: Nallan Chakravarthy, Sudarshan <Sudarshan.NallanChakravarthy@netapp.com>, bird-users@trubka.network.cz <bird-users@trubka.network.cz> Subject: Re: Is BFD extractable from Bird? NetApp Security WARNING: This is an external email. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. On Tue, 2022-11-15 at 10:48 +0000, Nallan Chakravarthy, Sudarshan via Bird-users wrote:
Hello Bird Team, I’m Sudarshan, a software developer at NetApp. I have been using Bird as a peer for testing BGP functionality of NetApp’s Ontap software stack. Thanks to the Bird community! I looked at Bird’s BFD implementation. Was wondering if it is even plausible to extract only the BFD functionality out of Bird and use it with our existing BGP implementation. I see that BFD is tightly integrated with Bird’s core software libraries and so it doesn’t look like a trivial lift and shift. That said, I wanted to check with this group to see if there is a way to do it.
Appreciate your response.
Thanks, Sudarshan
Hi Sudarshan, Before looking at the technical aspects if you haven't done so I suggest you reach for your company lawyers and ask them if using part of software under the GNU GPL v2+ is okay for your netapp project or not. https://gitlab.nic.cz/labs/bird/-/blob/master/README "This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version." Sincerely, Laurent
Hello!
I’m Sudarshan, a software developer at NetApp.
I have been using Bird as a peer for testing BGP functionality of NetApp’s Ontap software stack. Thanks to the Bird community!
I looked at Bird’s BFD implementation. Was wondering if it is even plausible to extract only the BFD functionality out of Bird
and use it with our existing BGP implementation. I see that BFD is tightly integrated with Bird’s core software libraries and
so it doesn’t look like a trivial lift and shift. That said, I wanted to check with this group to see if there is a way to do it.
Well, you're completely right about the lifting and shifting. Anyway, there is always a possibility to find a way unless you prove there is no way at all. I can see several possibilities: (1) use BIRD as a whole, preferably while also negotiating a contract with CZ.NIC; you'll help us make BIRD better for all and we'll help you fitting it nice into your setup (2) write a layer between your internal API and our API, which is, I suppose, both undocumented on this level, and pray a lot to whichever deity you believe in (3) order a truckload of biscuits and coffee and try to convert our BFD implementation to your core (4) write BFD yourself from scratch (5) run BIRD separately with BFD only and write a custom bridge to your BGP implementation In cases 2 and 3 (and possibly also 1 and 5), as Laurent Guerby has noted, you should consult your company lawyers whether your project is compatible with the GPL. I'm truly curious what way you choose. Honestly, I think the right way is "the commercial way" as you're selling your software stack as a whole. Yes, I'm greedy. I'd love also to extend our development team and keep making BIRD better, faster and more stable. Anyway, thank you for asking such a bold question. I hope I've helped you at least a bit. Last but not least, I'm looking forward to the future contract and collaboration. Best Regards, Maria
participants (3)
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Laurent GUERBY -
Maria Matejka -
Nallan Chakravarthy, Sudarshan