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Sun Microsystems has said it's considering releasing Solaris, already an open-source project, under the General Public License (GPL) as well. And Sun has said it likes the direction of a proposed GPLv3, a new version 3 of that open-source license.
Sun Microsystems has said it's considering releasing Solaris, already an open-source project, under the General Public License (GPL) as well. And Sun has said it likes the direction of a proposed GPLv3, a new version 3 of that open-source license.
Connecting the dots could mean that Sun plans to use GPLv3 for Solaris; and Eweek reported this week that the server maker plans to do excactly that, citing sources close to the company.
Sun called the story incorrect but didn't rule out the possibility. "It
just ain't so. This is primarily due to the fact that the terms of
GPLv3 aren't final, thus making it impossible for us to commit to it.
It would be like signing a contract with blanks to be filled in later,"
Rich Green, Sun's executive vice president of software, said on his blog Wednesday.
License selection isn't just a matter for lawyers and academics. One
crucial factor is whether Solaris and Linux will be able to
cross-pollinate or whether they'll remain separate pools of source
code.
Linux is governed by the current GPLv2, and the top Linux programmers have expressed loathing for the proposed GPLv3. Fans of open source dinged Sun for choosing the Community Development and Distribution License (CDDL) for its first crack at open-source Solaris, and choosing the GPLv3 could lead to another round of Sun bashing.
Sun argues that it can't use the GPLv2 for OpenSolaris. In a Solaris licensing FAQ,
the company said, "We needed an open-source license that allowed files
released under the license to be linked with files released under other
licenses," something the GPL prohibits.
Sun hasn't changed its rationale for not choosing GPLv2, according to Simon Phipps, the company's chief officer of open source.
Sun chose GPLv2 for making an open-source project out of Java, a second
major software project at Sun. The company hasn't ruled out GPLv3 for
that project, either, but couldn't commit to GPLv3 because it's not final, Phipps said on his blog.
Read the original article: http://news.com.com/2061-10808_3-6151276.html
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