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Sun Grants Access to 1,600+ Patents

Posted by timothy on from the read-that-fine-print-closely dept.

Insane_zoD writes "Looks like Sun is attempting to keep up with IBM in opening up patents for FOSS-based projects. From the news release: 'By giving open source developers free access to Sun OpenSolaris related patents under the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL), the company is fostering open innovation and establishing a leadership role in the framework of a patent commons that will be recognized across the globe.'"

6 of 285 comments (clear)

  1. Where is the license? by passthecrackpipe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Where is the license? All I see is a press release with vague language and much arm-waving. As I read the press release, the patents are only available for work in OpenSolaris (which as of now does not exist yet - only DTrace). Or work under the CDDL. Or both. Nowhere do I see a statement that says "use these patents with any OSI-approved licensed project, or indeed any clear statement as to right of use.

    Looks like there are some strings attached.

    --
    People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.
  2. Almost free software by Dancin_Santa · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So what we have here is software that is essentially free in just about any way you'd like to describe it. In general, the only thing that is different between this license and the BSD license is that you are not allowed to make a profit on the sale of any software you develop and you may not close the source.

    The not closing the source is what the GPL is most interested in. Unfortunately, I think that just because the owner of the patents is not releasing them under the GPL, the GNU/FSF folks aren't going to be so willing to accept this as "True" free software.

    Even though it is for all intents and purposes.

  3. Armsrace? by CAPSLOCK2000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now this is a war I could enjoy. Sun & IBM in an armsrace on who is going to free the most patents. I hope other companies don't want to be left out and start participating...

  4. Not as good as IBM by borgheron · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sun, according to thier license, reserves the right to sue if the software is released under another license. :)

    IBM opened the 500 patents it opened without restriction.

    GJC

    --
    Gregory Casamento
    ## Chief Maintainer for GNUstep
  5. Patents can be enforced against Linux by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 5, Informative
    I confirmed with Sun's PR person for this release (at Byte Communications), that the patents are only for use with software under the CDDL license and the OpenSolaris process. The patents can be enforced against GPL software, including Linux. In contrast, the IBM grant was for any OSI-accepted license.

    Bruce

    --
    Bruce Perens.
    1. Re:Patents can be enforced against Linux by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I agree, their participation so far appears to be cynical and they seem to intend to operate as a "spoiler", fragmenting the Open Source community rather than supporting it. Otherwise, we would see them dual-licensing with CDDL and GPL, and their patents wouldn't be barred from use in Linux.

      OpenOffice should be second in importance only to the Linux kernel among Open Source developers. And yet it has almost no developer community - IMO due to Sun's conduct. It's not clear that Sun has learned anything from that.

      Bruce

      --
      Bruce Perens.