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http://blogs.sun.com/anilg/date/20070714 Saturday July 14, 2007

OpenSolairs and GPLv3

There has been a lot of talk about the recently released GPLv3. Few, like Linus, have been reluctant in supporting it, while few others call it revolutionary.

I lie in the 'dont-understand-the-issues-well-enough-to-comment' department. However, OpenSolaris is now at an interesting position. Jonathan Schwartz has made positive comments about GPLv3. However, there has been no concrete information regarding OpenSolaris going  GPLv3.

Here is my personal view on the subject. _If_ OpenSolaris does have plans to go GPLv3, now is the time. There are a lot of developers who are looking to move to GPLv3, either due to legal reasons or their philosophies on freedom. And they are on the lookout for a robust kernal to build upon. OpenSolaris would lose out on this large initial mileage if it waited too long. Just like Solaris lost a lot by waiting too long to go open.



Posted by anilg [Solaris] ( July 14, 2007 07:32 PM ) Permalink | Comments[4]
Comments:

I think you spoke too soon! :) Linux Creator Calls GPLv3 Authors 'Hypocrites' As Open Source Debate Turns Nasty

Posted by Bryan Althaus on July 14, 2007 at 10:59 PM IST #

Actually, I posted this after I read that story. Thus the line Few, like Linus, have been reluctant in supporting it,

That is perhaps an understatement, but it's how I see it.

Posted by Anil Gulecha on July 15, 2007 at 08:36 AM IST #

I'm a colleague at that department. My biggest question at the moment is if you can port things from CDDL to GPLv2 and vice-versa - and incorporate the changes to the whole system.

Posted by Rafael Vanoni on July 15, 2007 at 10:37 PM IST #

Legally speaking, AFAIK the answer is _no_. GPLv2 and CDDL are incompatible. If there is something GPL that you want to CDDL, you have to get it licensed as such by it's copyright holder.

Posted by Anil Gulecha on July 16, 2007 at 05:51 PM IST #

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