IBM blogger Bob Sutor opines that "the path from here to final adoption [of GPLv3] looks pretty smooth" and that IBM is happy with the result.

He may be right about adoption by the Free Software Foundation, but adoption by the rest of the world is doubtful. I appended a comment of cold water, pointing out that any corporate GC will turn pale at the thought of committing his company to GPLv3, given its uncertainties about: (1) Compatibility with Digital Rights Management; (2) The web services issue; (3) The patent issue and interoperability; (4) The reach of the dynamic linking provision.

Sutor's blog is open for comment, so anyone who has substantive disagreements or explanations can jump in.

The threads on SlashDot and GrokLaw are amazingly empty of substantive analysis. And the FSF wing of the open source movement has an unpleasant habit of labeling as "FUD" any questions about the meaning of the license. It is itself a FUD technique, designed to deflect serious inquiry.

Aside from Sutor, the corporate world is amazingly silent about v3. The news page of the Linux Foundation (formerly the Open Source Development Laboratory) is totally dark. SInce LF seems to be the major voice of the corporate wing of the open source community, this is interesting. Perhaps their GPLv3 teams finally got around to informing their GCs.

posted by James DeLong @ 7:44 AM | Software

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