who really owns linux?
By Justin Silverton
The linux operating system is based on community. Many of the utilities and functionality are based on the hard work of open source developers from around the world. A recent article here is slightly disconcerting to me.
From the article:
“The Free Software Foundation is reviewing Novell Inc.’s
“The community of people wants to do anything they can to interfere with this deal and all deals like it. They have every reason to be deeply concerned that this is the beginning of a significant patent aggression by Microsoft,” Eben Moglen, the Foundation’s general counsel, said on Friday.
The foundation controls intellectual property rights to key parts of the open-source Linux operating system.
Novell angered members of the open-source community that develops Linux and other free software programs in November when it entered a wide-ranging business deal with Microsoft.
Critics called on the board to punish Novell by banning it from distributing new versions of Linux software, said Moglen.
Linux is the most popular variant of open-source software. Unlike proprietary software such as Microsoft Windows, open-source software lets developers share code and add functions and is generally available at no cost.
Moglen said the board has not made a decision on the matter but that he expects it to announce a ruling within two weeks.
If the foundation decides to take action, the ban would apply to new versions of Linux covered under a licensing agreement due to take effect in March”
I don’t necessarily agree with what Novell is doing, but why ban them from selling linux? If they haven’t violated the GNU in any way (although many might not like the fact that they are involved with Microsoft) I see no reason to ban them from selling linux.
I also find this very hypocritical from an organization that is against intellectual property (The only reason they can ban novell or any other company from selling linux is because they own the intellectual property on many of the tools that make up the operating system).
Update (2/4/07): A clarification of the above article has been posted here
Novell can still use and sell linux (and GNU based software) under the GPLv2. However, anything under the new license (GPLv3) they will not be able sell because of the patent dealings with Microsoft. This isn’t as bad as I originally thought, but it still makes me wonder how far the FSF will go to “protect” free software.
Companies should start stocking up on GPLv2 software.
No comments yet. Be the first.
Leave a reply