Third draft of GPLv3 already generates some buzz
Soon after the release of the third draft of GNU GPLv3 it has generated some comments and discussion. Even Linus Torvalds seems "pretty pleased" by the new license draft because "much of it reads better, and some of the worst horrors have been removed entirely". Bruce Byfield has written the first look at the new draft from which it seems apparent that there is now much more consensus and that the license is much clearer in what it aims to accomplish.
One of the novelties of the draft is something that caught an eye of many commentators; the section 11 which deals with patent deals and arrangement akin to the one between Microsoft and Novell seems to be letting Novell off the hook as the provision would not apply to deals made prior to March 28. 2007. Brett Smith contested this notion in his last FSF blog entry, promised to keep us updated more often on the situation and called for comments on the draft.
Overall, it seems that the third draft is a very positive step forward which leaves room for optimism in its succesful finalization and adoption.
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An interesting article about
An interesting article about GPLv3: Microsoft’s Linux Woes.
At first it seemed a bit bent against the new license, but at the end it seemed more balanced. What I find interesting is what Novell says about the license:
"Novell’s director of public relations, Bruce Lowry, wrote in his blog that despite his company’s alliance with Microsoft, “Novell has been and continues to be a strong supporter of free software and open source.†He also wrote, “If the final version of the GPL3 does potentially impact the agreement we have with Microsoft, we’ll address that with Microsoft.""
They'll address this with Microsoft and not the FSF? Interesting isn't it? That does give me a thought, maybe Novell actually wishes to have a reason to cut themselves loose of Microsoft, and GPLv3 could be it. The deal already gave most of what was positive about it (credibility and few thousand of SLED's sold), but other than that it was mostly negative for Novell. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.
This year is proving to be incredibly exciting for Free Software. Dell possibly adopting GNU/Linux, GPLv3 and its possible effect on Novell-MS deal, Vista flopping, DRM reputation flopping... I feel there's gonna be much more...
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