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Glibc Is Finally Free Software

Posted by timothy on from the after-the-fact dept.

WebMink writes "Despite the fervour of some, the dark secret of every GNU/Linux distribution is that, until August 18 this year, it depended on software that was under a non-Free license — incompatible with the Open Source Definition and non-Free according to Debian and the FSF. A long tale of tenacity and software archeology has finally led to that software appearing under the 3-clause BSD license — ironically, at the behest of an Oracle VP. The result is that glibc, portmap and NFS are no longer tainted."

12 of 337 comments (clear)

  1. Re:They released it under the BSD license? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've got an idea! What we really need is some kind of license that's like BSD, but requires people distributing derived works to do so under the same license. I can't believe nobody's thought of this yet!

  2. Wait what...Oracle isn't being evil...? by FunPika · · Score: 4, Funny

    Seriously, based on the article Oracle probably could have chosen to go all copyright infringement lawsuit-happy on every Linux vendor known to man. But instead they relicensed the old code under a free license...*checks the temperature in Hell*

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    After years of not using a signature, I am going to make one to say the following: Fuck Beta
  3. Re:that's great now fix NFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't fucking upload shit to my NAS without my desktop freezing

    A computer is not a toilet.
    Try uploading files instead.

  4. Year of the Linux desktop! by Manip · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now that Glibc is free we can finally have the year of the Linux desktop we've been waiting for since 2001. I know tons of my friends who would always say "I wanted to use Linux but Glibc isn't free!"

    Now with that glaring hole in Linux's offering solved we can move on continuing to ignore the terrible User Experience.

    1. Re:Year of the Linux desktop! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Most users don't care what os it is, they just want a nice big icon on the desktop that looks like a fox with arsonist tendencies.

      Yours, Microsoft Evangelist

  5. Baldrick, do you know what irony is? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Yeah, it's like goldy or bronzey, only it's made of iron.

  6. Re:Shut The Fuck Up by C_L_Lk · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is that you Steve Ballmer?

  7. Re:They released it under the BSD license? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes, I mean something along the lines of copyfraud. More notably, how can I defend a work against copyfraud, what sort of evidence do I need?

    Does it ever occur to you fucks to contact an attorney when you have a legal question?

  8. Re:They released it under the BSD license? by Local+ID10T · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just like you're never really free, unless you have the freedom to lock people up.

    You are thinking of the BDSM license...

    --
    "You want to know how to help your kids? Leave them the fuck alone." -George Carlin
  9. Re:Shut The Fuck Up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Heil Hitler! Oh wait, I got my nationality mixed up. For Mother Russia! Communist Comrades prefer Creative Commons!

  10. Re:that's great now fix NFS by jobst · · Score: 2, Funny

    shit hits the (cpu) fan ;-)

    --
    to code or not to code, that is the question.
  11. I think I see your problem... by rsilvergun · · Score: 2, Funny

    and I get regular notices that "composting was too slow and has been disabled".

    You need to upgrade you're chipper-shreder to a quad core.

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