The Free Software Foundation has announced plans to revise the General
Public License (GPL), which covers many open source applications
including the Linux operating system. The license has not been revised
since 1991, long before Linux and other open source applications had
been implemented widely. Now, according to Eben Moglen, the
foundation's general counsel, "The big boys, corporations and
governments, have far more reason to be interested and concerned." The
GPL and the Free Software Foundation are the creations of Richard
Stallman, an unwavering critic of proprietary software and the author
of much of the source code that led to the Linux operating system.
Stallman has used the license and the foundation to foster what he
says are the four principles of software: the ability to use, study,
copy, and modify it. Stallman acknowledged that with the success of
open source applications in recent years, the task of revising the GPL
is complicated by patent issues, which must allow open source and
proprietary software to run on the same systems. A first draft of the
new GPL will be presented at MIT in mid-January. The revision process
is expected to be completed by the end of 2006, with the Free Software
Foundation making final decisions about changes.
New York Times, 30 November 2005 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/30/technology/30license.html
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http://www.paccomp.com
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the spinal cord would surely suffice." ( Albert Einstein)
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