Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2006 14:15:16 -0500 From: Mike Hauber <mchauber@gmx.net> To: jan.husar@skosi.org, "FreeBSD, Advocacy" <freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: BSD folks position on GPL, Novell, IBM, SCO, and MS... Message-ID: <200611281415.17352.mchauber@gmx.net> In-Reply-To: <541b7a870611280408m6d9d4c48oe8ee77c540716326@mail.gmail.com> References: <200611250942.38410.mchauber@gmx.net> <86vekzj151.fsf@dwp.des.no> <541b7a870611280408m6d9d4c48oe8ee77c540716326@mail.gmail.com>
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On Tuesday 28 November 2006 07:08, Jan Husar proclaimed: > On 11/28/06, Dag-Erling Sm=C3=B8rgrav <des@des.no> wrote: > > Mike Hauber <mchauber@gmx.net> writes: > > > I was just wondering what the general consensus was on the GPL, Linux > > > in general, SCOs lawsuit, Sun's open sourcing, IBMs contributions to > > > Linux, Novell's contributions, Novell's deal with MS and how this > > > really affects SuSe (there's a lot of hype on that and I literally > > > don't know what to believe at this point). > > > > Why should we care? > > > > The SCO lawsuits are doubly irrelevant: firstly because SCO is not > > going to win, secondly because BSD is immune by virtue of the 1994 > > settlement with USL. I don't think the USL settlement matters to SCO. After all, Linux is immun= e=20 by virtue of the GPL (in addition to SCOs claims being fraudulent), but tha= t=20 didn't stop SCO from making fools of themselves. It's not Darl and company= =20 specifically that I'm worried about. It's other companies that can come=20 along and pull the same stunts. How long would it take before prospective= =20 customers get weary of the idea of open source as a whole if litigation=20 claims (fraudulent as they may be) continue? > > > > As for the Novell-MS deal, I don't see how it affects BSD at all. > > You are right, there is no direct affect on BSD however software > patents is in issue no matter if it's GPL or BSD mostly in United > States, in EU we are still fighting the patent problematics. > > Today is voting in ITRE (Information, Technology, Research and Energy) > committee within European Parliament about IPRED (Intelectual Property > Rights Enforcment Directive) which basicly means, criminalization of > abusing of patents, trademarks and copyright (e.g. sentece to jail, > freeze of accounts and so on) This was pretty much my concern as far as OSS goes. If SCO actually succee= ded=20 with their claims (which I know they won't), or if other SCOs come along, I= =20 don't think the only target would be the GPL. I see patent issues becoming= a=20 real problem not just for the GPL side of things but the BSDs as well (my=20 stance, of course, is that it shouldn't because patents lately have been=20 blindly awarded and seemingly requested for the purpose of fraudulent=20 lawsuits). If companies are scrambling for patents in order to bring=20 litigation or to protect themselves from litigation via counter-suits, I=20 doubt that when the fingers start pointing, the GPLd or BSDd code would be= =20 excluded... In fact, I tend to think they would be a preferred target just= =20 because it's open source, and we are by far the biggest threat that=20 proprietary companies have. I see this basically as a threat to everyone, not just the few it's startin= g=20 out with. That's why I asked, and I hadn't really heard much at all from t= he=20 BSD side of the aisle. What if Sun pulls a SCO with their Java? If IBM pulls a SCO with their=20 contributions? If Novell pulls a SCO with their contributions? I would li= ke=20 to think that their intentions are honest, but after SCO, and then MSs very= =20 weird deal with Novell, who knows? (and by the way, is IBM working with th= e=20 BSD community as well? I hadn't read anything on that, and would be=20 interested to know more if they are). Although my preference is the BSD license, I'm very much a fan of OSS, whet= her=20 it be licensed under the BSD or GPL, and I'm just concerned about whether o= r=20 not this could escalate into a trend against OS code in general. Appreciate your inputs. Thanks, Mike
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