____/ Jerry McBride on Sunday 23 March 2008 22:41 : \____
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>> Don't wanna pay for Linux? Beware of software patents
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | Do you really want to wake up one morning and pay Microsoft or SUN
>> | royalties to have the right to use Linux on each of your boxes? Probably
>> | not. However,
>> | if companies continue playing the little game of open source vs.
>> | software patenting, that time might come much sooner than you think.
>> |
>> | Take Microsoft for instance, they have a great code repository called
>> | CodePlex, one of their show-rooms for open source development advocacy.
>> | Except that in the last months, developers have lost their ability to
>> | license their code under the GPLv3. As we've shown earlier, Microsoft
>> | don?t like the GPLv3 because it provides protection against software
>> | patenting.
>> |
>> | The latest victim to date is MySQL who has always had a very strong
>> | stance
>> | against software patent. But like Icarus flying too closely from the
>> | sun, MySQL burned its wings: their anti-patent manifesto has abruptly
>> | disappeared from their site. (The complete story here).
>> `----
>>
>> http://blog.milkingthegnu.org/2008/03/when-the-ip-law.html
>>
>
>
> I wonder how long it will be before MySQL, the gpl version, get's forked?
Sun will have to play nice, knowing that it could lose many customers to a
company that revolves around a fork. The beauty of the GPL is that it /forces/
companies to behave. If they mistreat customers, they'll get even /more/
competition. In MySQL, the "My" means the customer's.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | No Makefile, no business
http://Schestowitz.com | Open Prospects | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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