New GPL Due Today

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As Todd reminded me (thanks!), the iPhone isn’t the only notable release expected today. An updated version (v3) of the GNU General Public License, which has been in draft form for some time, is expected.

Among other modifications, GPLv3 is designed to keep open-source software (such as Linux) open by limiting digital rights management. Not everyone, including Linus Torvalds and TiVo, is behind this refresh… In fact, TiVo raised concerns within an April regulatory filing:

If the currently proposed version of GPLv3 is widely adopted, we may be unable to incorporate future enhancements to the GNU/ Linux operating system into our software, which could adversely affect our business.

While this doesn’t impact current TiVo software, and it’s not clear to me which Linux components and distros will be tagged with the new license going forward, TiVo’s message above is most likely directed at their investors. As in: It’ll be a significant expense to re-engineer our software on a non-free operating system. Though, I have a feeling TiVo would be going down this path anyway… It’s inefficient to build and support software for multiple platforms. The cable industry is moving towards OCAP and TiVo’s Comcast Java software port (and presumably Cox too) is running on an OCAP-precursor. So this is probably the right time to begin consolidating behind a universal build.

While I appreciate the concern of the Free Software Foundation in maintaining accessibility, this could result in fewer consumer electronics devices running Linux… and you know who’s going to pick up the tab for those extra dev and licensing costs.

9 thoughts on “New GPL Due Today”

  1. This article is rife with inaccuracies. For starters, the GPL3 is not a ‘Linux’ license – because the Linux kernel does not use this license. Linus Torvalds has said that he is much happier with the most recent drafts of the license than he was with the earliest drafts. Whether Tivo should move to another platform for consistency is one thing, but they can still ship their systems with GPL3 code in it. They’ll just have to do the DRM magic in hardware or someplace else, which is probably where you would want it to be anyway. And, Tivo is not required to release the code that they actually hold the copyright for under the GPL3. The GPLv3 is a better GPLv2 in my eyes. I think it will succeed in the consumer space for the exact same reason that the GPLv2 has been succeeding – because it creates an environment where really great code is a commodity. It’s very well suited for consumer level devices.

  2. The GPL is written by the Free Software Foundation, not the Linux community. It is the FSF that is opposed to “Tivo-isation” so much that they rewrote the license. Its not very likely that Linus and the Linux community will adopt the new GPL any time soon. One should note that there are many many more software products besides Linux that are covered by they GPL license. There are even concerns that the iphone (and MacOS), may have some GPL components.

  3. I agree didn’t convey that the GNU GPL is produced by a separate entity and can be used with any software, not just Linux.

    I was hopeful that “it’s not clear which Linux components and distros will be tagged with the new license” expressed that I don’t know the breadth of adoption or potential impact yet.

    I’m obviously not an expert in this area, but it’s a timely topic with possible implications that merit discussion. So I’ve made a few tweaks to the post based on your feedback – hopefully it’s a bit more accurate and clear.

    Let the discussion continue:

  4. I’d change the subject “New Linux License Due Today” – because that’s totally inaccurate.

    The GPL v3 drops today – but it means absolutely nothing for Linux and it is NOT the new Linux license. Linux is licensed under the GPL v2 exclusively, and will not migrate to v3 unless and until Linus decides it will, since he holds the rights to many of the key components and steers development.

    Even if Linus decides he wants to migrate to v3 – a huge *if* since he is ‘happier’ with the final v3 than the drafts, but still not ‘happy’ – it will take a long time. Every piece of software than comprises the Linux kernel – and that’s thousands of contributions – would need to be relicensed under v3. That means tracking down every contributor – which includes the estates of people who have died, companies and corporations of all sizes (one-person shops to IBM), and getting them to agree.

    Any software that cannot be migrated – because the owner can’t be found or simply refuses to adopt v3 – would then need to be replaced by brand new code.

    It’ll be a huge mess if they do it.

    There *are* some reasons to perhaps do it. If there is a lot of pressure from the community it may happen. If Sun releases Solaris under GPL v3 – which they’re considering – that is a big incentive to migrate Linux, because it would allow cross-pollination between the code bases. And both platforms have some very nice bits that the other platform wishes they could have.

    But it is also possible that the OSS community will largely shrug and ignore v3. There is nothing to stop people from continuing to use v2, as well as other licenses – MPL (Mozilla Public License), Berkeley style licensing, Apache license, CDDL, etc.

  5. Hm, interesting. Sounds like if anything were to happen, it surely wouldn’t be in the short-term. So why would TiVo had mentioned it in their filing? Unless they need reason to justify the resources to migrate onto another platform… ;)

  6. Hoo-ray for GPL 3! I know today is all about the iPhone, and that’s cool. But let’s not forget how important this license is.

  8. Dave – Filings include all manner of worst case scenarios. It is all just legal ass-covering so *if* there is an impact investors can’t claim the company hid the risks.

    Toss – Has there been a statement that OpenSolaris *will* too v3? The last I saw out of Sun was that they were *considering* v3, and that it looked favorable. But that they had not yet decided.

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