On Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:31:42 +0100, Alexander Terekhov wrote: > http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2010/01/28/as-the-gpl-fades/ > > ------ > As the GPL fades > > Jay Lyman, January 28, 2010 @ 3:17 pm ET > > Were continuing to see signs that the dominant GPL open source license > may be fading from favor among commercial open source software players. > The latest move away from the GPL comes from content management software > vendor Alfresco, which is moving to the LGPL after originally releasing > its code under the GPL three years ago. The reasoning for the shift, > according to Alfresco CEO John Newton, is the company sees greater > opportunity beyond being a software application, particularly given the > emergence of the Content Management Interoperability Services standard. > Alfresco won mostly praise for its move, and it does make sense given > where open source is going these days. > > I believe the emerging trend away from GPL and toward more permissive, > mixable licenses such as LGPL or Apache reflects the broadening out of > open source software not only throughout the enterprise IT software > stack, but also throughout uses beyond individual applications, > frameworks and systems. More and more open source software vendors are > pursuing opportunities in embedded use or OEM deals whereby open source > software often must sit alongside or even inside of proprietary code and > products. Similar to what weve seen in the mobile space where open > source software and development are more prominent than ever, but end > products with accessible code are not open source is broadening out, > but it is doing so in many cases by integrating with proprietary code. > > We also see some debate about the community and commercial ups and downs > of GPL as organizations contemplate the balance of the two and the best > way to achieve commercial success with open source software. As Matt > highlights, we are seeing a choice of non-GPL licensing in order to more > effectively foster community and third-party involvement, but we also > continue to see GPL as a top choice to similarly build community. > > While the debate about community versus commercial benefit may not > necessarily be prompting movement away from GPL, I believe another > recent action may indeed do so. The latest series of GPL lawsuits are > aimed at raising awareness, profile and legitimacy for open source > software. While those bringing the suits primarily the Software > Freedom Law Center have exhibited a reasonable approach and settled > with past lawsuit targets, these suits and publicity may still serve to > steer organizations making the choice to other licenses, including the > LGPL, BSD, Apache and the Eclipse Public License. > > Another factor is the GPL thumping that took place during the SaveMySQL > campaign as the European Commission contemplated Oracles proposed (and > now closed) acquisition of Sun Microsystems and the open source MySQL. I > voiced my concern that the SaveMySQL campaign might jeopardize or > de-value open source software projects and pieces in M&A, but I believe > Im actually in agreement with SaveMySQL leader Monty Widenius that the > deal and process may end up tarnishing the GPL and its reputation in the > enterprise. > > As stated above, much of the movement were seeing away from the GPL has > to do with the desire and opportunity to place open source software > alongside, within, on top of or otherwise with proprietary software. > Non-GPL open source licenses are also more flexible in terms of > integrating and bundling with other open source software licensed under > other, non-GPL licenses. > > We anticipated this fade of GPL as covered in our report, The Myth of > Open Source License Proliferation. Given its clout, durability and > continued popularity in commercial open source (and with help from > continued growth of GPL-licensed Linux) we believe the GPL will endure > as a top open source license. However, given their flexibility and the > ability to combine with other code, we see a number of other challengers > Apache, BSD, EPL and LGPL rising while GPL dominance wanes. Were > also watching to see whether the AGPLv3 for networked software will > provide new life for GPL-style licensing and community building in > emerging virtualized, SaaS and cloud computing environments. ------ > > regards, > alexander.
Is the GPL being used less, or are more people writing proprietary software based on non-GPL OSS licenses. Big difference. -- Rick _______________________________________________ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss
