Friday, January 25, 2008

GPL Project Watch List for Week of 01/25

The GPL v3 Watch List is intended to give you a snapshot of the GPLv3/LGPLv3 adoption for January 19th through January 25th, 2007.

January 25th - Rambo is out!
The GPL v3 growth for this week is consistent with our average growth rate. As of January 25th, the GPL v3 count is at 1579 GPL v3 projects, up 44 projects over the past week. The LGPL v3 list is growing slowly but steadily and is currently at 150 LGPL v3 projects, as compared to last weeks number of 148 LGPL v3 projects. Lastly, the GPL v2 or later count is at 6440 projects. The GPL v3 conversion is still averaging around 50 projects per week, with the last two weeks bringing in 56 and 44 projects. It is surprising how consistently the numbers are coming in, and as they continue to come in at this rate, the GPL v3 percentage still grows. Once the rate of new GPL v3 projects begins to diminish, we can better gauge how much of the open source space it will occupy.






















New project conversions this week include:
  • Qt: Qt is a cross-platform application development framework.
  • metashell: a lightweight, heavy punch, interactive, intelligent command line shell.
  • Smeagol: a Z-machine interpreter core written in Ruby. It is based on experiences made with the "Z-machine preservation project" and aims to run both Infocom and Inform based Interactive Fiction Z-code stories.


Court Ruling on OSI license

Let's consider what may happen to the OSS movement if the court decision in Jacobsen v. Katzer et al. is upheld. In Katzer, the federal district court in San Francisco held that remedies for a breach of the Artistic License, an Open Source Initiative (OSI)-recognized license, are limited to those in contract as opposed to remedies available for a copyright violation. Contract breaches are usually remedied by monetary damages, while copyright violations can be remedied by injunctions, i.e., forcing someone to stop the violation. This ruling only applies to the Artistic License and is also being appealed, but if it is upheld it could set a disadvantageous precedent for the ability of OSS developers in the future to ensure compliance with license terms.This district court ruling does not apply to the GPLv2, but since it too is an OSI-recognized license, let's say for the sake of argument that the Katzer decision is upheld and subsequent cases cite it as precedent in a case involving a project licensed under the GPLv2. Let's also consider that the MySQL database project, recently acquired by Sun, licensed under the GPLv2, and soon to be adopted more widely in enterprise corporate environments as a result of Sun's support network, it the software project in question.As an enterprise user with a commercial license from Sun for your MySQL installation, the Katzer decision probably doesn't affect you or your company much because your version of MySQL is "closed" by virtue of the commercial license and you don't have to worry about complying with the terms of the GPLv2. However, assume your company supports its own installation of MySQL without the help of Sun. If your company violates some term of the GPLv2 which, in the absence of Katzer would be a copyright violation, what is the remedy? And for that matter, it would be Sun who would have to sue to enforce this as owners of the MySQL code. Is the remedy purely money? Can Sun then force your company to purchase a commercial license in order to continue use of MySQL? If a violation of the GPLv2 is only a contractual breach and not a copyright violation the only remedy may be monetary damages. Could a "forced" purchase of a commercial license be fit into the "monetary damages" box?
Reference:http://lawandlifesiliconvalley.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-open-source-legal-decision-jacobsen.html

Story of the week
Don't Forget About the LGPL v3
The introduction of the GPLv3 was met with much criticism.
Lacking the support of some big names in open source, such as Linux, much of the open source community was wary of adopting the license, and many were doubtful of its success. Its delayed release as well as the inconsistent information about its release date caused further anxiety and animosity towards the license. So when the project was finally released, there seemed to be a virtual hush in the open source world, and it seemed that only a few projects were adopting the new license, or at least projecting to adopt the new license. Yet it became apparent over time that the open source community was becoming more amiable; many new projects were released under the GPLv3, and many old projects were converting. As can be contested by the Palamida website, there are now a great number of projects that are released under the GPLv3.

Yet, in all the commotion over the GPLv3, there is another license that seems to have been overlooked: the LGPLv3. The GPLv3 has been getting its fair share of adoptions, but it seems that the number of LGPLv3 has been getting ignored. On sites such as Freshmeat.net, the GPLv3 gets its own repository, where once linked as GPLv3, projects get to join an exclusive list that contains only GPLv3. Yet, the LGPLv3 gets no such love. The LGPLv3 projects remain in anonymity with LGPLv2 projects, tucked away only to be chanced upon by some open source developer. Are there so few LGPLv3 projects for them to receive the attention that they GPLv3 brethren receive? And if the lack of attention is due to the low number of LGPLv3, what is causing these meager conversion rates? This may simply be a numbers game. There are so many more projects released under the GPL than the LGPL, so GPL gets more attention than LGPL in general. Thus, even if the ratio of GPL conversions and LGPL conversions are the same, the fact that numbers-wise there will be more GPLv3 projects than LGPL projects causes people to assume that people are less inclined to use the LGPLv3 than the GPLv3.

Basically, we would be able to see the open source community's true feeling toward the LGPLv3 if we could gather the ratio of new projects under LGPLv3 vs. LGPLv2, and do the same with the GPLv3 and the GPLv2. Yet, the sheer number of open source projects, and repositories from around the world, make this an almost impossible task. So, all that we have to go on is what we can see. And from what I can see, the LGPLv3 is getting very little love compared to the GPLv3.

Summary
I wonder if the community doesn't perceive the same benefit to switching from the LGPLv2 to the LGPLv3 that they do in switching from the GPLv2 to the GPLv3. If the LGPL (either version) licenses allow incorporation into proprietary projects, where is the incentive to change to the latest version?


Notable Mention
Palamida actively takes submissions from visitors on updates on new GPL v3/LGPL 3 projects. We are amazed at the number of submissions we have gotten to date, but even more so, we are incredibly grateful to the almost 100 core contributors who have devoted their time and resources at helping us provide up-to-date information.





The Research Team


Ernest Park
Antony Tran
Kevin Howard
Samuel Kang








Saturday, January 19, 2008

GPL Project Watch List for Week of 01/18

The GPL v3 Watch List is intended to give you a snapshot of the GPLv3/LGPLv3 adoption for January 12th through January 18th, 2007.

January 18th - Winnie The Pooh Day
Over the past week we have passed the 1.5k milestone. Within just over 6 months, 1535 projects have adopted the GPL v3, which is a growth of 56 GPL v3 projects over the last week. The growth was actually closer to 90 new GPL v3 projects, but we performed an audit on the database to clean out faulty entries. The LGPL v3 list has grown to 148 LGPL v3 projects, increasing in 5 LGPL v3 projects in a week. Lastly the GPL v2 or later count is not at 6411 GPL v2 or later projects. We are well into the new year and GPL v3 growth remains consistent at approximately 50 adoptions per month. If this adoption rate remains consistent, the overall percentage of active projects under the GPL v3 will continue to grow.






















New project conversions this week include:


  • FSVS: a complete backup/restore tool for all files in a directory tree or whole filesystems, with a subversion
    repository as the backend.
  • Nulog2: Nulog2 is a complete rewrite of Nulog the historical filtering log analysis solution from INL. Nulog2 is an application build upon Twisted, an advanced Python framework.
  • jtvmaker : a web slideshow generator and album generator that can remix photo, mp3 and lyric files.

Current Events in Open Source
Sun's acquisition of MySQL
In addition to providing a great boost to the visibility of, and commercial confidence in, free and open source software, Sun's announcement this week of its acquisition of MySQL raises some interesting points to ponder. This acquisition brings benefits to both parties. Sun receives a proven and robust open source database and MySQL will soon be available to major customers worldwide that are part of Sun's existing distribution network, along with enterprise-level support.

MySQL is a very popular database server used alongside Linux, Apache and PHP (together, "LAMP") to provide a web platform based on open source applications. How Sun intends to integrate MySQL into its current product offerings is unclear. With its OpenSolaris operating system and Java programming language, adding MySQL could give Sun a powerful Sun-branded combination to challenge the current popular LAMP configuration for hosting a web platform.

Initially there don't appear to be any licensing conflict issues if Sun were to merely bundle MySQL along with its other software products. MySQL is currently offered using a dual licensing arrangement where it is available either with a commercial license or under the GPLv2. Presumably, with the commercial license Sun will be able to do what it likes with the code as far as integration, but under the GPLv2, going beyond bundling, or "mere aggregation," and into the realm of combining MySQL code with that of another application into a single program can potentially require that the GPLv2 govern the resulting combination.

It will be interesting to watch how Sun begins to position MySQL as a product as the anticipated finalization and closing of this deal occurs sometime in the second half of this year.

References:
http://www.sun.com/
http://www.mysql.com/




GPL v3 and Commercial Dual Licenses

Our understanding of the GPL v3 is that any code released under the license cannot be closed and is difficult to combine with another license under a dual license. This makes GPL v3 code practically impossible to be under a commercial license. There are, however, projects that are under both the GPL v3 and a commercial license. The best example of this is Sugar CRM. In Sugar CRM's case, the project forked, having the open source version under the GPL v3 and having another commercial version with the additional code under their commercial license. However, all portions of code under the GPL v3 in the commercial version must remain open to abide by the terms of the license.

In light of projects like Sugar CRM that are under the GPL v3, but have a commercial side, we decided to look for other projects in our database that also had commercial aspects. We found that there were three main variations of commercial
GPL v3 projects.

  1. "Forked" - This is the Sugar CRM example, where the project releases different versions, one of which is under the GPL v3 and the other is under a commercial license. (Example: Sugar CRM)
  2. "Dual License" - There were other projects that listed themselves as dual licenses, in which case the source code is available for individual use under the GPL v3, but for enterprise use a commercial license must be purchased. In these cases, the code branch is the same, the only differences is the intended use, which determines the license type. However, even under the commercial license, the code will remain open under the GPL v3. (Example: zeromq)
  3. Support Contract - There is no potential for conflict in this case, since the code is open under the GPL v3 for free, but the developers offer a separate support contract for those who would like additional assistance with the software. (Example: Blackbird ESB)
The purpose of bringing this into view is that the GPL v3 is controversial because of its many restrictions. In the case of putting a GPL v3 project under a commercial license as well, there is high potential to violate the terms of the GPL v3. This is not to say that any of the aforementioned projects are or are not in violation of the license, since our analysis of the terms are not yet complete, but caution should be used if a project is under both the GPL v3 and a commercial license.

References:
http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/
http://www.zeromq.org/area:licensing
http://www.blackbirdesb.org/
http://gplv3.fsf.org/


Notable Mention
Palamida actively takes submissions from visitors on updates on new GPL v3/LGPL 3 projects. We are amazed at the number of submissions we have gotten to date, but even more so, we are incredibly grateful to the almost 100 core contributors who have devoted their time and resources at helping us provide up-to-date information.



Regards,

Ernest Park
Antony Tran
Kevin Howard

Saturday, January 12, 2008

GPL Project Watch List for Week of 01/11

The GPL v3 Watch List is intended to give you a snapshot of the GPLv3/LGPLv3 adoption for January 5th through January 11th, 2007.

January 11th - Popular Mechanics magazine anniversary
As of Friday, January 11th, the GPL v3 figure is at 1476 GPL v3 projects as compared to last weeks number of 1414 GPL v3 projects. This is an increase of 62 new GPL v3 projects, which is a sign that the rates are picking up again from the holiday slump. The LGPL v3 list is currently at 143 LGPL v3 projects up three projects from last week and the GPL v2 or Later count is at 6404. The last two weeks have been below average, in terms of adoption rates, but now that people are settling back into their jobs, the rate seems to be back to normal.





















New project conversions this week include:

  • RPMDIG: RPMDIG displays recursive RPM dependencies for a given RPM and it also displays list of files and list of libraries which are required by these RPMs.
  • LinuxSpeaks: a collection of scripts and library modules that aspire to be a comprehensive vocal, sight-free user interface to the Linux operating system.
  • Dragon Player: a KDE video player with an uncluttered interface and smart features. A bundled KPart integrates it into Konqueror.


Current Events in Open Source
Here come the open source IPOs
Fortune magazine has published a list of its hot IPO tips for 2008. Three out of the five - MySQL, Ingres and SugarCRM - are open source companies, while another - Parallels - is an open source project sponsor (for the record, the other Fortune tip is ExactTarget). Here’s a look at Fortune’s assessment of the four open source-related vendors, together with a quick 451 CAOS Theory view, and a terrible pun.
http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2008/01/11/here-come-the-open-source-ipos/



Notable Mention
Palamida actively takes submissions from visitors on updates on new GPL v3/LGPL 3 projects. We are amazed at the number of submissions we have gotten to date, but even more so, we are incredibly grateful to the almost 100 core contributors who have devoted their time and resources at helping us provide up-to-date information.






Regards,

Ernest M. Park



Saturday, January 5, 2008

GPL Project Watch List for Week of 01/04

The GPL v3 Watch List is intended to give you a snapshot of the GPLv3/LGPLv3 adoption for December 31st through January 4th, 2007.

On the 11th day of Christmas....
The GPL v3 numbers are now at 1414 GPLv3 projects, which is a less than average increase of 34 new GPL v3 projects. The LGPL v3 count is at 140 LGPL v3 projects, up 5 projects from last week. Lastly the GPL v2 or later count is at 6396 GPL v2 or later projects. New additions are still coming in slower than usual, but we expect this will pick up again next week, once the holiday comma wears off. We are glad that our Year in Review report was widely viewed and hope it will stimulate more community participation in our GPL v3 tracking. It is uncertain how long we will continue to track the GPL v3, since its market impact is still not clear, but we have gotten a better idea with the past 6 months of data.






















New project conversions this week include:
  • The Combustion Flame Engine: A collection of fractal flame software
  • Cartesio: A web-based groupware application for Linux with PHP, MySQL, Apache, SSL oriented to forensic laboratories.
  • ThisTime: ThisTime is a simple clock and timer program. Create any number of count up or count down timers. Features digital clock and timer displays that automatically scale to fit the program window.

Current Events in Open Source
Eastwood Chart Servlet and GNU Affero GPLv3
Eastwood Chart Servlet is a java-based servlet that emulates the function of the Google Chart API to allow web developers to incorporate the rendering of charts into their web pages. The servlet is hosted on a server and accepts data encoded in a URL, which the servlet processes and then returns in a chart format based on that data. The Eastwood project is interesting and important because it gives any developer the ability to modify or improve a "web services" type of application that emulates the functionality of the closed-source Google Chart API. What allows this ability is the release of the Eastwood source code under the GNU Affero GPL version 3.

The release of Eastwood under the GNU Affero GPL v3 extends the freedoms ensured by the GPL v3 to users of the servlet wherever it is hosted, thereby making modifications to Eastwood's original source code available to such users even though the servlet may only be interacted with over a network connection. In the case of Eastwood, it is not entirely clear how users of the servlet would know that the source code is licensed under the GNU AGPL v3 since there does not appear to be an interface seen by such a user that would allow some type of "interaction" to provide such notice as is one option under the GNU AGPL v3. Possibly some sort of notice might be incorporated into a footer on the chart itself or the host of the servlet would provide such notice on its web page.

Issues such as proper notice under the GNU AGPL v3 will work themselves out, but only in the context of real application. With the popularity of web-based applications continuing to grow, it is important to use licenses that allow the continuous innovation that free software and openly available source code provides instead of keeping these "software-as-a-service" applications fenced in and only available to a limited set of developers.

-Kevin Howard
Legal Research Associate

Reference:
http://www.jfree.org/eastwood/
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html
http://code.google.com/apis/chart/


Notable Mention
Palamida actively takes submissions from visitors on updates on new GPL v3/LGPL 3 projects. We are amazed at the number of submissions we have gotten to date, but even more so, we are incredibly grateful to the almost 100 core contributors who have devoted their time and resources at helping us provide up-to-date information.



Regards,

Ernest Park