On 05/02/2007, at 6:20 PM, Jeff Waugh wrote:
<quote who="[EMAIL PROTECTED]">
FWIW I think Novell-Microsoft is a good thing. It lets ME watch,
listen
and play as I want. MS are commercial, I don't need to be a cynic
to watch
for their overtures. But *freedom* lets ME do as I want.
Why is it good that Novell have affirmed Microsoft's belief that
they should
be paid tithing for the commercialisation of Linux (and other Open
Source
software)?
This is a very disturbing trend (you are free to do as you want,
provided I
approve ...)
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?
type=technologyNews&storyID=2007-02-03T093134Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_Ind
ia-286203-1.xml
"Belief"? "Tithing"? Were you expecting a concise factual response
to such an emotive question? James explained why he thought it was a
good thing from his point of view. Is his assessment of the benefits
to him incorrect?
Users of OSS are either at risk of violating a patent owned by
Microsoft, or not at risk.
If they are at risk, Novell has made a choice which protects their
customers, and everyone else is no better or worse off (just still at
risk).
If they are not at risk, Novell's customers are no better or worse
off than they were before, and everyone else is no better or worse
off (still not at risk).
Is this correct? Do any SLUG members have specific concerns about
how the agreement affects their continuing use of open source software?
The header vastly overstates the issue, and the article is a mess:
* The FSF are considering adding a clause to GPLv3 that would
cleverly
*neutralise* the value of the deal for projects other than Linux
(see
points below). It would *NOT* "ban" Novell from selling Linux.
* The FSF does *not* "control intellectual property rights to key
parts of
the open-source Linux operating system" by any stretch of the
imagination.
* For the forseeable future, the proposed clauses would not affect
Linux
itself anyway, because thus far the majority of kernel
developers don't
seem to be interested in using GPLv3. It is very likely to
affect Samba,
which would still be a big deal for Novell.
If you enjoy getting angry about the state of the world, choose
your sources
wisely.
... and remember that you don't have to choose just yet, feel free to
browse for a while :-)
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