Linux community dealt a blow by GPL 3.0
Proposed changes in version three of the GNU general public licence (GPL), which governs the use of open-source code, could split the open-source community, according to experts.
The third discussion draft of the licence was released this week, ahead of a final version due in July. It gives permission to the recent cross-licensing deal between Microsoft and Novell, in which Microsoft said it would indemnify firms purchasing Novell?s Suse Linux Enterprise Server for all its patents.
But the latest version prohibits other Linux providers from doing similar deals, a move that is likely to meet with opposition, according to Doug Levin of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), the organisation in charge of drawing up and evaluating the GPL.
