Bruno Souza, the NetBeans Community Manager for Sun, wrote: "As you all know, we are working hard for the release of NetBeans 6.0. The new release will bring exciting technical features and this is a great time to consider what else can we do to empower the NetBeans Community. As a result of requests from the comunity, we are considering the potential adoption of a new license model. We are considering releasing a future early access version of NetBeans 6.0 under a dual licensing scheme of CDDL and GPL v2 with Classpath exception. A move like this would be well received by many of the NetBeans contributors, and will benefit the community at large."
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Member since:2006-01-03
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OpenSolaris could not simply *use* Linux drivers as they are fundamentally different
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Maybe not *simply*, but it really would not be that much work. The glue layer between raw hardware manipulation and the OS would have to be reworked, but the most difficult part would be done. See how nVidia and ATI drivers for Windows and Linux share most of the code, and those two operating systems are vastly more different than Linux and Solaris. There's even a wrapper layer that allows straight Windows network drivers to be used in Linux!
And most of the higher level code that would be different between Solaris and Linux would be very similar for Solaris drivers of the same family (say all network cards, or scsi cards, or sound hardware or whatever).
I think both Solaris and Linux would technically benefit from the code sharing that the GPL would permit. As for market penetration, though, I'm not sure about who would benefit the most in the long term. It could well be that Solaris was stripped of its advantages and then dumped as an equally competent but less mainstream OS, or it could also happen that it turned into a much more formidable opponent to Linux and Windows.
Member since:2006-09-01
OT: If only you had said, "There's even a wrapper layer that allows straight Windows D3D drivers to be used in a native Linux D3D layer, as well as through Wine!"
Maybe one day. :-) Sorry to be OT.
Member since:2005-07-08
Member since:2005-07-08
Member since:2006-06-26
Member since:2006-06-26
>>Although going by the "rules" he has done nothing wrong the comment displays a distinct lack of technical knowledge and a slight degree of GPL zealotry. Not to mention that this story is about Netbeans and not OpenSolaris.
The above is rude and a bunch of crap and so I ignore it.
>> OpenSolaris could not simply *use* Linux drivers as they are fundamentally different, i'm sure there is
That's not what I said. You have to read more carefully, man. And it should be possible to read _one_ sentence carefully, don't you think 
>> some good info that could be gleaned from the Linux drivers but I doubt it would be worth going GPL and losing the benfits inherent in CDDL?
That's what SUN is discussing internally for months now. For crying out loud, please try to stick to the facts!
>> The CDDL is a great open source license that serves the needs and wants of the OpenSolaris community just fine, the community may decide to go GPL3 based upon it's merits but going to GPL2 would be a step backward in many eyes, including mine.
That's SUN marketing, doesn't belong here. Apparently Jonathan Schwartz does not quite agree with you, as he (and others at SUN) have been discussing the GPL 3 for months now.
>> A constructive approach often benefits all, rolling around on the floor screaming "I want GPL" is not going to help anyone.
I think SUN is very constructive. Don't underestimate SUN. They have used the GPL 2 for Java, and it's quite possible that they are using GPL 3 for OpenSolaris.
Edited 2007-08-22 07:54
Member since:
2005-11-05
Although going by the "rules" he has done nothing wrong the comment displays a distinct lack of technical knowledge and a slight degree of GPL zealotry. Not to mention that this story is about Netbeans and not OpenSolaris.
OpenSolaris could not simply *use* Linux drivers as they are fundamentally different, i'm sure there is some good info that could be gleaned from the Linux drivers but I doubt it would be worth going GPL and losing the benfits inherent in CDDL?
The CDDL is a great open source license that serves the needs and wants of the OpenSolaris community just fine, the community may decide to go GPL3 based upon it's merits but going to GPL2 would be a step backward in many eyes, including mine.
A constructive approach often benefits all, rolling around on the floor screaming "I want GPL" is not going to help anyone.