July 26th, 2007
Sugar sweet for GPLv3
The big news today is that SugarCRM has bowed to community pressure and will release the next version of its CRM software under an OSI-approved license.
The bigger news may be the identity of the license, GPLv3.
Currently Sugar uses a version of the Mozilla Public License, adding a non-standard “attribution” requirement on user screens which the OSI objects to. It has also used the Microsoft Community License.
CEO John Roberts told C|Net that Sugar will continue to offer a “Professional” version of its software under a proprietary license, which prohibits distribution of the source code. VARs will doubtless be encouraged to push customers toward it.
But the real significance of the move may be what it says about the battle between the GPLs.
Linus Torvalds has identified himself publicly with the GPLv2, and GPLv3 advocates like Richard Stallman have been called anti-capitalist. But here we have a profit-seeking company, previously unwilling to support any standard OSI license, now supporting the GPLv3.
So who’s commie now?
UPDATE: In a move that certainly smells like compromise, the OSI has approved a Common Attribution License, submitted by SocialText.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. You can follow Dana on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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