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Final Draft of GPLv3 Allows Novell-Microsoft Deal

Posted by Zonk on from the and-we-all-go-forward-singing-together dept.

famicommie writes "All of Novell's fingernail biting has been for naught. In a display of forgiveness and bridge building on behalf of the FSF, ZDNet reports that the final draft of the GPLv3 will close the infamous MS-Novell loophole while allowing deals made previously to continue. From the article: 'The final, last-call GPLv3 draft bans only future deals for what it described as tactical reasons in a 32-page explanation of changes. That means Novell doesn't have to worry about distributing software in SLES that's governed by the GPLv3 ... Drafting the new license has been a fractious process, but Eben Moglen, the Columbia University law school professor who has led much of the effort, believes consensus is forming. That agreement is particularly important in the open-source realm, where differing license requirements can erect barriers between different open-source projects.'"

2 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. TiVo by danbert8 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So does that mean TiVo can continue to sell their products because their deal was made before GPL3 was drafted?

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  2. P:rotection from MSFT patent suits by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Eben Moglen's (and FSF's) stance on this issue seems to be that the language of GPLV3 will automatically cause all GPLV3 software distributed by Novell in SLES to be protected by the Microsoft-Novell deal. Now, IANAL, but Eben Moglen is. I'm not sure he's 100% right, but I'm also not sure he's 100% wrong either. I wonder if that would hold up in court?

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