Well thanks for replying I suppose. The reality is that the alternative is that customers get no SMB server, and will have to use other file interfaces. The appliances you mention.. well you didn't actually mention any specifically.. but going by the brands it sounds like you are referring to NAS boxes, in which case they are selling only hardware-- they have no valuable software of their own to protect, 99% just linux+samba, maybe they wrote a trivial control-panel backend. Show me a device that has a competitive advantage from its own software that uses GPLv3 code. 'Signed code only' does not have to mean customers aren't free with the hardware (I'd be quite happy to help wipe the device so they can do whatever they want), it just means potential competitors aren't free to steal my code and waste the investment of xyz man hours that went into that. As a consequence, those that mean no malice will lose freedom with my mix of software on the hardware they own, but they can remain free with their own software on the purchased hardware (as above. Except for GPLv3).
There are several cloud filesystem gateway appliances that contain considerable proprietary code on the appliance, and use Samba GPLv3 software to provide gateway services from SMB clients into the cloud.
I'm not at liberty to name them as I am the NAS boxes as most of them are not forthcoming about their use of Samba to anyone but their customers (to whom they provide replaceable source code of course), whereas the NAS vendors are well known users of GPLv3 Samba.
You seem to be under the impression that avoiding GPLv3 code prevents competitors from buying our box and rendering it down to components, including your precious software, and figuring out any trade secrets you may have.
This is a strange and incorrect impression.
If you genuinely want to use Samba in your proprietary appliance, email me (I'm easy to find). I help companies do this every day as part of my job.
You won't be able to use Samba outside of the terms of GPLv3 of course, but most companies not requiring DRM seem to be perfectly comfortable with that.
