Xiaofan Chen gmail.com> writes: > To stay clean? I am not so sure how that would last. Solaris is to go > to GPL. And I think other major Unix vendors will all switch to Linux > sooner or later. Maybe IBM and HP can hold on a bit longer. Clean meand 'abiding by the licenses provided, for each OS and piece of software used'. I refuse to yield further technical information at this point, but you are wrong. Sun will not go (L)GPL as a whole and in fact, since you mention it, OO has just had a code fork because Sun incorporated (L)GPL code into a certain OO version and refused to switch the license to something compatible with (L)GPL. And this is exactly the way it is supposed to be, it is the GPL at work at its best. It has happened to RH when they started becoming very commercial, causing a split in the community and and a drop in use for the 'official' distribution, it affects mysql for similar reasons, and it will continue to happen to anybody who thinks he or she can outmaneuver the GPL by some clever or less clever trick, in part or as a whole, for ANY purpose or reason, since the purpose of the GPL is precisely that of PREVENTING such abuse by the best means available (and, as others noticed, it is very good at that, and not by coincidence - it was designed that way by clever people - engineered if you like). (wrt OO fork: search the net with the keywords: oo code fork license; to find about 150,000 mostly relevant documents) > Personally I do not have any problems with GPL. However, I just think if > purely on technical merits, Linux deserves better position in the embedded > world. GPLed Linux is good for server and desktop. But it is not that > suitable for embedded applications. Kind of a waste... Linux has a very good position in the embedded world, ONLY FOR THOSE INTEGRATORS WHO ABIDE BY THE LICENSE AND PUBLISH THE SOURCE. It looks like you will have to define what you mean by 'better position', because I do not understand your statement. A quick look at www.linuxdevices.com will show you exactly what I mean. And yes, several devices there are in litigation because they do not come with source. On the other hand, most are not in litigation ... again democracy and the GPL at work, and proof of the 'very good position' those linux powered devices enjoy. Peter P. -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist