Skip the navigation

LinuxWorld SF: GPL upgrade due in 2007

By Paul Krill
August 11, 2005 12:00 PM ET

InfoWorld - The planned upgrade to the GNU General Public License (GPL) will be ready by 2007, according to an industry official involved with the project.

Presenting at the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Eben Moglen, president and executive director of the Software Freedom Law Center and a key participant in the planned Version 3.0 of GPL, cited issues expected to be covered in the upgrade. These include resolving patent conflicts, accommodating Web services and resolving incompatibilities with other licenses. Dealing with wikis in the GPL also has been pondered.

The Free Software Foundation, which has jurisdiction over the GPL, seeks compatibility with The Apache Software Foundation's license, said Moglen, who serves on the Free Software Foundation's board of directors.

"We will take some steps to increase the compatibility of the GPL with some non-GPL licenses whenever possible, without adversely affecting freedom," Moglen said. Lately, companies such as Sun Microsystems Inc., with its Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL), have developed their own brands of open-source licenses.

Moglen didn't mince words when speaking on what his foundation thinks about patents. "Its position is that the application of patent law to software is dangerous and unproductive," he said. "All we're saying is the disastrous, 15-year American experiment with patenting software ought to be terminated."

Patent conflicts have clouded open-source development, with developers and others fearing that the open-source code they distribute may unknowingly be subject to someone else's patent and attendant royalties. "Everybody understands the patent problem is deeply serious," Moglen said.

Version 3.0 isn't about fixing or repairing the GPL but bringing it up to date after a long life for GPL 2, he added. "We have been using GPL 2 for quite a while, and 15 years is probably long enough. It's about time for a change."

However, he also stressed, "we will do nothing [to change the GPL] that we have not studied exhaustively."

Foundation President Richard Stallman will ultimately make judgments on what transpires with the new GPL, Moglen said.

A draft of GPL 3.0 is expected in late 2005 or early 2006, followed by a full calendar year of discussions, revisions and other input, Moglen said.

The move to the new GPL will likely take place in the first few days of 2007. Some 150,000 individuals around the world are expected to comment, with Version 3.0 expected to be the largest, nongovernmental act of legislation in the history of the world.

A global conference on translation of the GPL is likely to be held in Europe,

Reprinted with permission from InfoWorld. Story copyright 2012 InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
What is Tech Briefcase?
TechBriefcase is a new, free service where IT Professionals can Search, Store and Share IT white papers and content like this. Learn more
Bookmark content
Speed up your research efforts with content across the web.
Search and Store
Find the white papers you need. Create folders for any topic.
View Anywhere
Open your briefcase on your iPhone, tablet or desktop. Share with colleagues.
Don't have an account yet?
Additional Resources
Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

App Development White Papers
Workload Automation Challenges and Opportunities
This Executive Brief discusses IDC's perspective on how enterprise workload management requirements are changing and highlights the ways that workload automation solutions can...
Protecting Against Database Attacks and Insider Threats: Top 5 Scenarios
Read this new eBook to learn the top five scenarios and essential best practices for preventing database attacks and insider threats.
Database Activity Monitoring Is Evolving
Read the analyst report and learn how you can leverage the core capabilities of a DAP solution for better database security.
Establishing a Strategy for Database Security is No Longer Optional
The options for securing increasingly valuable databases are very broad and deep, and can be confusing. This research provides an overview of three...
Thinking Outside The Data Warehouse
This high level, business problem focused eBook uses 5 customer scenarios to show how people and organizations are tackling real issues using IBM...
All App Development White Papers
App Development Webcasts
Distributed Database Security with Real-time Monitoring
View this demo and learn how IBM InfoSphere Guardium database activity monitoring can help protect your sensitive data in distributed DBMS environments with...
InfoSphere Warehouse Packs Demo
These flash modules make warehousing more tangible and relevant to business users through detailed explanations of the InfoSphere Warehouse Packs.
Delivery Management -- Extending Lifecycle Management
Date: Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 1:00 PM EDT

Siloed organizations continue doing the wrong things and doing things wrong, leading to increased costs,...
Leverage automation today to reduce IT complexity
Date: Tuesday, June 5, 2012, 2:00 PM EDT

Whether your B2B complexity is caused by multiple technologies due to M&A, business or application specific...
Redefine Expectations in the Data Center
Need to do more with less? Watch this video to learn how HP ProLiant Gen8 servers can help your business deploy servers three...
All App Development Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs