Torvalds: Solaris could nudge Linux to GPLv3
Linux leader Linus Torvalds has finally found something that could convince him that the forthcoming version 3 of the General Public License is worth adopting: open-source Solaris.
"If Sun really is going to release OpenSolaris under GPLv3, that may be a good reason" to move Linux to the new licence, Torvalds said in a posting to the Linux kernel mailing list on Sunday. "I don't think the GPLv3 is as good a licence as [GPLv]2 but, on the other hand, I'm pragmatic and, if we can avoid having two kernels with two different licences and the friction that causes, I at least see the reason for GPLv3."
As leader of the highest-profile open-source project, Torvalds plays a key role in the protracted arrival of the GPLv3. The kernel at the heart of Linux is currently covered by GPLv2, and Torvalds and fellow kernel programmers have expressed serious reservations about new provisions in GPLv3 drafts. Torvalds moderated some of his objections with the most recent draft, though he still thinks GPLv2 is "simply the better licence".
