It's nice to see the Linux Foundation taking things seriously.
Despite what the board-posting-fanboy-home-users say on slashdot, the legal ramifications of Linux are a serious concern to businesses adopting it. If they aren't nailed down and addressed, then it will continue to be the preferred OS of Mom's basement.
In the end I think that the outcome will be playing nicer with closed-source and allowing a certain amount of concession. The question is: Is the community mature enough to handle that?
Google is doing ad-supported Operating System as well. They're just starting small with a phone instead of a PC. If they thought they could get in on the OS market i'm sure they would!!!
It would be a VERy good idea for Microsoft to actually make an ad-supported version of Windows with access to the "anytime upgrade" feature of Vista. Smart marketing....shareware for operating systems.
You mean, the same business model as the G-Phone from Google? Everyone wants ad-supported software these days. It's THE mid-line between the people who want software that "just works" and also want it to be free.
Not really. If a company is using Windows Update, its the COMPANY that is in violation, not the software vendor. Anyone worried about Sarbanes-Oxley compliance should have better controls in place for client computers than Windows Update.
Wow, every time i read something about this guy I think he's more and more crazy.
"You'd better not follow Torvalds if you value your freedom" (paraphrased)
Who does this guy think he is, and what exactly does he think his role and Linus' role are? They arent spiritual leaders They aren't politicians. They might sort of be 'leaders of a movement', but it's a movement that really doesn't mean much outside of the IT community.
Basically leaves Linux as the bastard step-child with no framework of their own. They kind of have MONO...and they DO have java....but how long til "incompatibilities" start popping up, now that Sun is pushing into the OS market?
Its very good for developers, because they only have to test on one platform. If they had to test on multiple platforms, it could definitely raise software prices.
Its good for businesses because they can "standardize with exceptions" rather than having multiple platforms. Also the IT staffing becomes less expensive because IT skills become a commodity, rather than having many different specialists.
Except that "the community" is not part of the court case. Only the owner of the copyright and the defendant. A court decides on the monetary damages done TO THE PLAINTIFF.
The problem is that copyright penalties are usually monetary "damages". Its kind of hard to prove in court that you've suffered "damages", when the original work is not earning you money due to it being given away for free.
Here's the question to your question about whether violations are followed up on or being investigated:
Who's going to follow up on it and why?
Who's going to pay for the lawyers to do so?
Is there *any* money to be made? Even enough to pay for those lawyers?
Are you just penalizing the "spirit" of the GPL by making it a legal battle rather than letting the code proliferate?
One major difference. Redhad has money and corporate customers behind it. They can pay for employees to continue support it 5-7 years out. Even Microsoft says after 5 years its not worth spending the money...and if they wanted to plenty of businesses would PAY to have the support extended.
Ubuntu 6.06 is only ~1.5 years old. Only halfway there. Kind of remains to be seen if they can pull it off....especially with MULTIPLE LTS products in cycle. Under their plan to release a new LTS every 2 years, they will have three products in support cycle at a time.
This is interesting news about the "Long Term Support" thing. If they can pull it off, then it will be a major step forward. However....3-5 years? Most distros only have their spot in the sun for 2-3 years. I guess this is their attempt to break that trend.
I believe you're correct. This is Microsoft winning. But it's less about Micorosft winning the game, and more about FOSS losing it for themselves.
"We hate all the legal restrictions and copy rights of closed-source software"...
"So we're gonna write a bunch of things that are twice as complicated"
The fanboys forget that GPL is not end-all of software, and that it's really only practical in certain situations. Based on this type of circumvention, I think more and more developers will just go with other options.
I dont see this as "being bought", so much as the self interest of the companies who voted. If you're a Microsoft partner, it's in your best interest to vote for Microsoft. However I'm sure Microsoft rang their phones to "remind them" that they could go vote.
For distributing the software itself? No you couldn't be held responsible.
But let's say that you sold a distribution that included software for playing DVD's. If the DVD powers-that-be come along and claim that wasn't allowed, you now have a responsibility to your customers to provide the functionality that the system was supposed to have....which could mean that you have to cough up the money for DVD decoder.
I dont want to sound like a FUD parrot, however as a businessman I would think that legality is a significant concern.
There are looming possibilities of "patent claims" and "copyright infringement" against linux and the components that various distributions include. As a Linux OEM, I would think that fact poses significant risk to your business. It only takes one weird case/judge/lobby such as the old JPG copyright scares, etc to potentially put you at legal risk.
Again I'm not saying such a thing would be justified, but the possibility of it...when it's your money on the line is scary.
Great attitude to have. It's like saying "no one can pick my front door lock". Vulnerabilities are found all the time, and just because they are found and patched, doesn;t mean that someone couldn't have exploited them before that point.
Slashdot Mirror
It's fairly uncommon, it attempts to manipulate anything that it touches....sounds like a virus to me.
It's nice to see the Linux Foundation taking things seriously.
Despite what the board-posting-fanboy-home-users say on slashdot, the legal ramifications of Linux are a serious concern to businesses adopting it. If they aren't nailed down and addressed, then it will continue to be the preferred OS of Mom's basement.
In the end I think that the outcome will be playing nicer with closed-source and allowing a certain amount of concession. The question is: Is the community mature enough to handle that?
Google is doing ad-supported Operating System as well. They're just starting small with a phone instead of a PC. If they thought they could get in on the OS market i'm sure they would!!! It would be a VERy good idea for Microsoft to actually make an ad-supported version of Windows with access to the "anytime upgrade" feature of Vista. Smart marketing....shareware for operating systems.
You mean, the same business model as the G-Phone from Google? Everyone wants ad-supported software these days. It's THE mid-line between the people who want software that "just works" and also want it to be free.
Not really. If a company is using Windows Update, its the COMPANY that is in violation, not the software vendor. Anyone worried about Sarbanes-Oxley compliance should have better controls in place for client computers than Windows Update.
Wow, every time i read something about this guy I think he's more and more crazy.
"You'd better not follow Torvalds if you value your freedom" (paraphrased)
Who does this guy think he is, and what exactly does he think his role and Linus' role are? They arent spiritual leaders They aren't politicians. They might sort of be 'leaders of a movement', but it's a movement that really doesn't mean much outside of the IT community.
Someone needs a reality check.
I can HEAR the paperwork being shuffled and the Microsoft layers have a currier deliver the cease and desist.
Windows + .NET
Open Solaris + Java
Linux + ????
Basically leaves Linux as the bastard step-child with no framework of their own. They kind of have MONO...and they DO have java....but how long til "incompatibilities" start popping up, now that Sun is pushing into the OS market?
Its very good for developers, because they only have to test on one platform. If they had to test on multiple platforms, it could definitely raise software prices. Its good for businesses because they can "standardize with exceptions" rather than having multiple platforms. Also the IT staffing becomes less expensive because IT skills become a commodity, rather than having many different specialists.
The OS market "wants" a near monopoly. It's very good for a lot of reasons.
The advantages are more toward business IT and developers, and less toward home-users....but the former are the ones who drive the market.
Except that "the community" is not part of the court case. Only the owner of the copyright and the defendant. A court decides on the monetary damages done TO THE PLAINTIFF.
The problem is that copyright penalties are usually monetary "damages". Its kind of hard to prove in court that you've suffered "damages", when the original work is not earning you money due to it being given away for free.
Here's the question to your question about whether violations are followed up on or being investigated:
Who's going to follow up on it and why?
Who's going to pay for the lawyers to do so?
Is there *any* money to be made? Even enough to pay for those lawyers?
Are you just penalizing the "spirit" of the GPL by making it a legal battle rather than letting the code proliferate?
One major difference. Redhad has money and corporate customers behind it. They can pay for employees to continue support it 5-7 years out. Even Microsoft says after 5 years its not worth spending the money...and if they wanted to plenty of businesses would PAY to have the support extended.
Ubuntu 6.06 is only ~1.5 years old. Only halfway there. Kind of remains to be seen if they can pull it off....especially with MULTIPLE LTS products in cycle. Under their plan to release a new LTS every 2 years, they will have three products in support cycle at a time.
This is interesting news about the "Long Term Support" thing. If they can pull it off, then it will be a major step forward. However....3-5 years? Most distros only have their spot in the sun for 2-3 years. I guess this is their attempt to break that trend.
Cable TV? cell phone? internet?
I believe you're correct. This is Microsoft winning. But it's less about Micorosft winning the game, and more about FOSS losing it for themselves.
"We hate all the legal restrictions and copy rights of closed-source software"...
"So we're gonna write a bunch of things that are twice as complicated"
Well put! I wish I could mod this up!
The fanboys forget that GPL is not end-all of software, and that it's really only practical in certain situations. Based on this type of circumvention, I think more and more developers will just go with other options.
Seems like the whole GPL 3 thing is "going the other way" if you step back and look at it.
It used to be that the restrictions on proprietary code caused people to want other options, and jump through hoops to get around the restrictions.
Now people will be doing the same to deal with the restrictions of GPL 3.
Seems that the "spirit" of open software is being compromised by people trying to nail it down in legal terms.
Yes. When people use legalese to try to lock down software into "freedom" (GPL 3), then people use legalese to get around it.
I dont see this as "being bought", so much as the self interest of the companies who voted. If you're a Microsoft partner, it's in your best interest to vote for Microsoft. However I'm sure Microsoft rang their phones to "remind them" that they could go vote.
For distributing the software itself? No you couldn't be held responsible.
But let's say that you sold a distribution that included software for playing DVD's. If the DVD powers-that-be come along and claim that wasn't allowed, you now have a responsibility to your customers to provide the functionality that the system was supposed to have....which could mean that you have to cough up the money for DVD decoder.
I dont want to sound like a FUD parrot, however as a businessman I would think that legality is a significant concern.
There are looming possibilities of "patent claims" and "copyright infringement" against linux and the components that various distributions include. As a Linux OEM, I would think that fact poses significant risk to your business. It only takes one weird case/judge/lobby such as the old JPG copyright scares, etc to potentially put you at legal risk.
Again I'm not saying such a thing would be justified, but the possibility of it...when it's your money on the line is scary.
Great attitude to have. It's like saying "no one can pick my front door lock". Vulnerabilities are found all the time, and just because they are found and patched, doesn;t mean that someone couldn't have exploited them before that point.
Don't be blinded by your religion.
I cant wait to get one so I can have...
My own....
Virtual......
Jesus