"Efforts under way to revise the popular GNU General Public License
could put additional pressure on Microsoft Corp. by the time it tries to
push its long-awaited Windows upgrades out the door."
"But several sources close to the FSF said that from a strategic point
of view, the best possible timing would be to have a draft of the next
version of the GPL ready before the end of next year. Following that, a
global summit on licensing would be convened in 2006, the sources said.
Such a schedule would align with Microsoft's planned release of the next
major Windows client and server upgrades, code-named Longhorn, which are
due in late 2006 and early 2007, respectively.
"The [new-license debate] would take place while Microsoft is consumed
with the difficulties of shipping the Longhorn client," one source said.
Potentially more damaging for Microsoft, the timing around the Longhorn
client and server releases will be when enterprises begin making key
decisions on whether to stick with Windows or go to Linux or other
open-source platforms. "That's the time of maximum vulnerability for
[Microsoft], and that's the moment when it would be in [free software's]
favor to have a new license in place," the source said."
<http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1732567,00.asp>
©2004 Bill Anderson |
