LXer: How Oracle sees open source may not be how you see open source

LXer · 08-18-2010, 07:20 AM

Published at LXer:

Many open-source developers and business people are upset that Oracle is suing Google over Java patents in Android. These people have reason to worry. This case could change not just how they use Java but how open-source development is done at all. So why would Oracle, a Linux-supporter in its own right, introduce the evil of software patents into open-source programming? My answer: Because Larry Ellison, Oracle's CEO, thinks the company can profit from it.

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Kenny_Strawn · 08-18-2010, 04:17 PM

The way Oracle is exploiting FOSS is the same thing that Apple did to FreeBSD to create the proprietary OS X. This should therefore be prevented in GPL 4.

Hangdog42 · 08-19-2010, 07:08 AM

Not that I'm an Apple fan, but how did Apple "exploit" FreeBSD? Their licensing allows the kind of stuff that Apple did.

Kenny_Strawn · 08-19-2010, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hangdog42

Not that I'm an Apple fan, but how did Apple "exploit" FreeBSD? Their licensing allows the kind of stuff that Apple did.

Very true - and it's that kind of licensing that I hate about BSD. That's why I prefer anything under GPL over *BSD anyday.

However, 0rac£e is doing something slightly worse because 0rac£e is actually exploiting GPL software to gain $$ out of the community. This should, as I had said several times, be considered in version 4 of the GPL.

Edit: And Cr@pp£e: Oh, how I hate you!