[H-GEN] re: OpenSolaris

[Adrian Sutton]

> My main concerns about having multiple non-GPL licenses are weakened by
> this sledgehammer of illumination, but they still exist. I still see 
> the
> introduction of each new open source license as a vile sin. What Sun
> should have been doing instead is attempting to use or create a new
> version of an existing license.

I would argue that that's not a viable option for Sun.  They clearly 
wanted a license that provided similar rights as the MPL, ie: not viral 
but changes have to be made public.  They also had to pick a license 
that provided patent grants otherwise they would have been slammed 
(rightfully) for with holding their patents over the code (which they 
pretty much copped - wrongfully - anyway).  This point is actually 
covered in the FAQ:
> We reviewed a number of existing open source licenses, but were unable 
> to find one that that was appropriate for the OpenSolaris source code. 
> Therefore, we reluctantly drafted a new license...

Each project has different requirements and the variety of licenses 
reflect that.  If you don't like being confused by licenses, advocate 
the public domain which removes all confusion - you can just do what 
you want.

Then again, I'm involved with the Apache Software Foundation and the 
ASF was the last target of the GPL fanatic hit-squad for not being GPL 
compatible (I'm not sure anyone's really sorted out if the ASL 2.0 is 
GPL compatible or not).  Perhaps I'm just still grumpy.

Regards,

Adrian Sutton.
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