Apr

1

Ubuntu to be licensed under friendiler version of the GPL

Tagged with , ,  

Mark Shuttleworth announced today that work is underway to rewrite the GNU General Public License to allow proprietary derivatives, say sources close to Canonical, Ubuntu’s main sponsor. Shuttleworth is personally leading the development of this new version. “However, we are collaborating closely with upstream, as always.”

The projected GPL 3.0 will allow companies to reuse and relicense GPL code under proprietary terms, which “should have a very positive effect on the usability of free software desktops and increase Ubuntu’s market share,” says Shuttleworth.

Vocal criticism about the new development effort has risen in parts of the Ubuntu community. “This just doesn’t seem, uh, very free to me at all,” says mc44, the leading jester on #ubuntu-offtopic. “lolk,” added usability expert aubade.

Shuttleworth is not worried about the criticism. “Naturally, we are open to all input on this matter, just like we always are, but I put progress and user-friendliness first and foremost. If a refined GPL is what it takes, we will do it.” No discussion has been opened officially however. “Ubuntu is not a democracy,” reminds CEO Matt Asay. “This is a good thing. Look at Apple’s licensing, and then look at how shiny their desktop is.” Asay, a former Mac user, has recently started using an Ubuntu PC after joining Canonical. “Linux is just too hard for the average user. We are on a mission to change that.”

Comments

8 Responses to “Ubuntu to be licensed under friendiler version of the GPL”

  1. Giorgos on April 1st, 2010 12:03 pm

    Nice one ;) I had to check my calendar to release that I was fooled!

  2. Marius Gedminas on April 1st, 2010 12:32 pm

    Would’ve worked a bit better if you referred to the upcoming licence as GPL 3.04 or something like that — GPL 3.0 already exists.

  3. Marcus on April 1st, 2010 12:57 pm

    The sad thing is, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was true…

  4. Jeremy on April 1st, 2010 2:24 pm

    LGPL

  5. rww on April 1st, 2010 2:28 pm

    Fake, that quote is too lucid to be from mc44.

  6. Choisir les logiciels libres on April 1st, 2010 10:06 pm

    Une nouvelle licence pour Ubuntu…

    Des sources proches de Canonical l’ont annoncé à Topyli[1] : Ubuntu va bénéficier d’une nouvelle licence plus permissive. Cette nouvelle licence sera une version adaptée de la GPL, pour permettre la création de versions dérivées propriétaires. Marks…

  7. deesaster.org on April 2nd, 2010 8:32 am

    April, April…

    Ich mag den ersten April ja, einmal im Jahr kann man sich ruhig irgendeinen Blödsinn einfallen lassen. Ich gebe aber zu, dass ich die Scherze, die man nicht zwingend als solche erkennt (und in einem negativen Kontext stehen) nicht sonderlich mag. Aber …

  8. Zac on April 3rd, 2010 11:37 am

    Nice one. Almost had me, must of had my guard down, maybe by reading this on April 3rd doesn’t help.

Switch to our mobile site