Slashdot Mirror
Petition To Get OS/2 Open Source
Landreth writes "There is currently an ongoing petition taking place at OS2 World to get IBM to open source either the whole part or parts of OS/2 to the community. I would highly encourage the Linux community to take part of this open source petition as well due to the fact there are lots of interesting code base the they could benefit from. To sign the petition: http://www.os2world.com/petition/" Despite the jokes about it, there was some good stuff in OS/2; however, I'd rank the ability to open it up fairly low, since I suspect there's a fair amount of legal restrictions on elements of the code.
Maybe I'm way out in left field, but wouldn't open sourcing OS/2 open what would likely be a lot of Microsoft's NT code? Weren't OS/2 and NT once the same operating system? I wouldn't be surprised if there were still a bit of shared codebase.
http://nerdfortress.com/
With MSFT's involvement in OS2, it seems the best we could hope for is a Sun/CDDL-like patent minefield license.
I think this is actually microsoft's strategegy - get all the other vendors to release their patent encumbered OS's as non-GPL-compatable OSI-approved licenses -- and then when the Linux suits fly and the Linux community uses the "we didn't know" patent defense, they'll just point to all these other projects.
I, for one, recommend the Linux community NOT sign the petition unless it explicitly calls for GPL compatability.
Yes, MS is Sun's master. That must be why Sun is pushing Open/Star Office, which is probably the biggest threat to MS's monopoly in quite a while (most companies use Windows for MS Office - go figure).
And while the way IBM has responded may be a bold approach, it has also turned into a several-year-long FUD circus.
Who in their right mind wants OS/2. I've been trying to get rid of it in my company for years.