Recommendation: no GPLv3 for Solaris [LWN.net]

Recommendation: no GPLv3 for Solaris

Posted Feb 11, 2007 17:09 UTC (Sun) by mrshiny (subscriber, #4266)
In reply to: Recommendation: no GPLv3 for Solaris by drag
Parent article: Recommendation: no GPLv3 for Solaris

I think it's funny that you totally discount the possibility that a user of a system might want it to be open. As a professional java developer, I am thrilled that it will be opened, because this will result in many improvements, including support for under-supported platforms and support for unusual configurations. For example, Sun didn't ship a 64-bit applet plugin for Linux; this is because of the variety of issues with shipping a compiled 64-bit blog to plug into a browser; the problem isn't that hard but Sun didn't want to deal with it. Now that Java is open, this issue will finally be resolved, and similar issues will also be resolved. Also users will finally be able to fix bugs in a more timely manner than Sun. And finally, for embedded developers, there are a range of possibilities when you have the freedom to alter the core platform in a way that suits you.

I mean, you can't say that, just because someone tolerates the status quo, doesn't mean they don't want it to change.

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Recommendation: no GPLv3 for Solaris

Posted Feb 12, 2007 0:37 UTC (Mon) by drag (subscriber, #31333) [Link]

""I mean, you can't say that, just because someone tolerates the status quo, doesn't mean they don't want it to change.""

That's right.

But when somebody _chooses_ to join that statis quo, then that is different. It's one thing to get sucked into it, but it's quite another when somebody volenteers for it.

If they had problems with licensing of OpenSolaris then they would be Linux developers, not OpenSolaris developers. :-)

Plus another thing is that CDDL is a Free software license, by FSF/RMS's definition of the word. The question is one of licensing incompatability, not of freedom on the GPLv3 side (OpenSolaris folks probably like that CDDL allows them to use the code in propriatory software, were the GPLv3 would not)

Recommendation: no GPLv3 for Solaris

Posted Feb 12, 2007 15:55 UTC (Mon) by Arker (guest, #14205) [Link]

I don't think the point was that developers in general don't want that, it was that the developers working at any given time on a given project are likely to be the ones that don't have a problem with the license that project is under.