Jeremy Allison Resigns From Novell In Protest

walterbyrd writes to alert us to word from groklaw.net that Jeremy Allison has turned in his resignation at Novell. "The legendary Jeremy Allison (of Samba fame) has resigned from Novell in protest over the Microsoft-Novell patent agreement, which he calls 'a mistake' that will be 'damaging to Novell's success in the future.' His main issue with the deal, though, is 'that even if it does not violate the letter of the license, it violates the intent of the GPL license the Samba code is released under, which is to treat all recipients of the code equally.' He leaves the company at the end of this month. He explained why in a message sent to several Novell email lists, and the message included his letter to management."

Comments

Putting your money where your mouth is

[astrashe]

Whatever you think about what Allison has done, you have to repsect him for living up to his convictions. This sort of thing can't be good for your career, or for your bank account.

I really admire people who choose to live by their principles, even when it's hard or costly to do so.

You miss the point

[Eric Damron]

You miss the point. Novell and Microsoft are saying that they can release code under GPL v2 that is encumbered by patents. If this is the case FOSS CANNOT use that code without denying the freedoms that were the intent of the GPL.

Microsoft could, for example, help Novell inject their IP and later tell users that they must pay or be sued for patent infringement.

I didn't support GPL v3 in the past but I do now. Let's close this loophole and shun Novell until they straighten up and fly right!