I know by now you've seen the notice by the guy claiming to "revoke" the GPL license on his code, because I'm getting email about it.
Read more »GNU/Solaris - When the fun begins...
Sun Microsystems has purchased MySQL and released Java under the GPL. Chief executive Jonathan Schwartz has also speculated that there could be a future release of Solaris under the GPL, but what would be the implications of such a move?
Read more »Category: Business Tags:
- Login to post comments
The Open Source Freeloader Phenomenon
After the filing of the Verizon / BusyBox suit, and after reading about any number of other, similar incidents where a company showed what could only be seen as flagrant disregard for the GPL, I had to ask myself: Why do people do this? Are companies really that naive about the GPL, or do they just think they can get away with anything?
Read more »Category: Business Tags:
- Login to post comments
Interview with Richard M. Stallman
"Mr. Stallman, creator of the GPL, FSF and GCC, shares his thoughts on a number of topics..."
Read more »Category: Community Tags:
- Login to post comments
OLPC's SimCity released as Micropolis
EA released SimCity under the GPL3, so it could be included in OLPC's XO.
Read more »Category: Industry Tags:
- Login to post comments
Free software licenses
"...Created and maintained by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation, the same organization that maintains the GFDL, the GPL allows licensees to freely distribute copies and modifications provided a number of requirements are followed. One major restriction is that any derivatives or verbatim copies must be licensed under the GPL too (the GPL has a viral clause, similar in spirit to the GFDL)..."
Read more »Category: Legal Tags:
- Login to post comments
McAfee throws some FUD at the GPL
In the chill morning dark, quiet except for the sounds of wind and rain outside, it seemed only fitting to happen upon the news of yet more FUD manure thrown at open source software by a vassal of the Volish empire, against its own interests.
Read more »- Login to post comments
Destroying the GPL from the inside
How do you destroy the GPL? Honestly I don't think it will be done, but there is a way. Simply put the GPL is a copyright license, which is it's strength and it's achillies heel. For years publishing companies, our friends at the RIAA and MPAA among others have pushed for longer and longer copyright terms so that they can reap the rewards from other people's work for a longer period of time. So why not turn things on their heads a bit? Actually, what I'm talking about has already been proposed.
Read more »- Login to post comments
McAfee Issues Warning Over 'Ambiguous' [Free Software] Licenses
"McAfee warned that license terms governing [Free Software] 'may result in unanticipated obligations regarding our products.' ..."
Read more »Category: Opposition Tags:
- Login to post comments
What's a Derivative Work? Depends Who You Ask
What is a derivative work of open source software? "The answer is I don't know -- and the fact is most people don't know," Jason Wacha, general counsel for MontaVista Software, said in a recent webinar. "The 'derivative works' definition hasn't been that well defined. There are 12 U.S. circuits, and each has its own definition -- some have none."
Read more »- Login to post comments
BSD and the GPL
One of the things that's been discussed a lot over the years is how Linux seems to succeed enmass across many different markets whereas BSD is relegated to just a sizeable slice of the server world.
Read more »- Login to post comments
The Year the GPL Went to War
For developers, the open source world of 2007 was all about updates and interesting new projects. From a new version of Eclipse to a new scheduler in Linux, developers around the world contributed their free time to make their lives and the lives of others collectively easier. But in hindsight, the significance of 2007 may well be that the GPL finally grew some teeth.
Read more »Category: Legal Tags:
- Login to post comments
Richard Stallman: OpenBSD is non-free software
"If a collection of software contains (or suggests installation of) some non-free program, I do not recommend it. [...] I therefore exercise my freedom of speech by not including OpenBSD in the list of systems that I recommend to the public."
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
- Login to post comments
Interview with Richard Stallman: Four Essential Freedoms
"When Richard Stallman announced the GNU Project back in 1983, he launched a movement that would, in time, transform the software industry. The Free Software Foundation, also created by Stallman and now sponsor of the GNU Project, has become a driving force behind the adoption of the widely used GNU GPL software license.
We discussed some of the more recent developments with Richard Stallman, whose passion for freedom in computing remains intense. The following Q & A explores the goals of free software, progress that has been made, and ways to maintain or instill freedom in software that we use..."
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
- Login to post comments
GPL vs BSD, a matter of sustainability
If you haven’t been living under a rock the past decade (I suppose Stonehenge qualifies) you may have walked in on some incarnation of the famous GPL vs BSD flamewar. It’s up there with the most famous flamewars (now *there’s* a research question for a brimming sociology student!) of our beloved Internet society.
Read more »- Login to post comments