Re: GPLv3 comedy unfolding -- Gilbertson: "GPL Adding To Open Source License Confusion"

[Alexander Terekhov]

http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/05/gpl_adding_to_o.html

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Thursday, May 10, 2007
GPL Adding To Open Source License Confusion

The Executive Director of the Free Software Foundation says the
organization wants to make the General Public License (GPL) compatible
with the Apache License. A while back we took a look at the oft-maligned
GPL v3 draft proposal, but based on the FSF’s desire to include Apache
license compatibility, that draft may see some changes before it becomes
official.

However, the FSF’s definition of compatible isn’t the two way exchange
you might imagine. If the proposal is accepted, code released under the
Apache license could be rolled into GPL licensed projects and released
under the GPL, however the reverse scenario would still not be possible.

The relationship between the two would effectively be partial
compatibility, giving the GPL community access to Apache licensed code
without returning the favor.

In essence the Apache license would have the same relationship to the
GPL that the BSD license has now. The BSD license is compatible with the
GPL but the GPL is not compatible with the BSD license.

If all this license talk makes your head spin you’re not alone, and in
fact licenses may not be as big of a concern as the FSF would like you
to believe. Ian Murdock, Sun’s chief operating systems officer, tells
CNet that since many open source projects are largely separate, “I don’t
think software licenses matter as much as they used to.” 
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regards,
alexander.

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