Sun CEO: poverty, not licenses are biggest threat to open source

Sun CEO Jon Schwartz used his blog to extend an olive branch — or at least some olive oil — to Linux creator Linus Torvalds Wednesday in a simmering dispute over the terms of the next version of the GNU Public Licences (GPL V3).

Schwartz invited Torvalds to dinner at his house (Schwartz cooks, Torvalds brings the wine) in an effort to break through a log jam over adoption of GPL V3 and clearing the air of simmering resentments between the Linux and OpenSolaris communities.

Schwartz was responding to a post by Torvalds on the Linux kernel mailing list that suggested that a decision by Sun to release Solaris under GPL V3 might tip the scales in favor of standardizing the Linux kernel under that version of the GPL license. As reported by news.com, Torvalds was writing on the Linux Kernel mailing list and said that, while he didn’t like the latest version of the GPL license as much as GPL V2, “I’m pragmatic, and if we can avoid having two kernels with two different licenses and the friction that causes, I at least see the _reason_ for GPLv3. As it is, I don’t really see a reason at all.”

However, Torvalds went on to cast doubt on Sun’s intentions and commitment to open source, noting that Linux had eaten into Sun’s chip design business and reduced the appeal of the Solaris operating system.

“They may like open source, but Linux _has_ hurt them in the marketplace. A lot,” he wrote.

Releasing Solaris under GPL V3 would be Sun’s way of looking good while “still keep(ing) Linux from taking their interesting parts, and would allow them to take at least parts of Linux without giving anything back,” Torvalds wrote.

In his open letter to Torvalds, Schwartz took issue with those claims, noting that it was open source companies that ate into Sun’s business, not the open source community. “Companies compete, communities simply fracture,” Schwartz wrote.

He also called Torvalds out on disparaging comments he made about the Solaris operating system’s stability, and on the general air of cynicism in Torvald’s discussion of Sun’s moves towards open source, including open sourcing Solaris and Java.

“Why does open sourcing take so long? Because we’re starting from products that exist, in which a diversity of contributors and licensors/licensees have rights we have to negotiate. Indulge me when I say It’s different than starting from scratch. I would love to go faster, and we are all doing everything under our control to accelerate progress. (Remember, we can’t even pick GPL3 yet – it doesn’t officially exist.) It’s also a delicate dance to manage this transition while growing a corporation,” Schwartz wrote.

GPL V3, which is due to be released by the Free Software Foundation in the coming weeks. The new license has been a source of controversy because of concerns within the open source development community that it will make it more difficult to combine elements of code covered under the new license and earlier versions of GPL. Parts of the Linux operating system including its kernel are licensed under GPLv2.

The new version of GPL also wades into the messy issue of patent-licensing such as the deal struck between Novell and Microsoft in November, with a provision promising patent safety to those who receive software, such as Linux, distributed under the license.

But Schwartz called on Torvalds to lay down his sword, noting that the differences between the Linux and OpenSolaris communities were trivial compared with the challenges of poverty and the growing gap between rich and poor nations.

“We should put the swords down – you’re not the enemy for us, we’re not the enemy for you. Most of the world doesn’t have access to the internet – that’s the enemy to slay, the divide that separates us,” he wrote. “Let’s stop wasting time recreating wheels we both need to roll forward.”

The first step may be a mashup in the truest sense: “I invite you to my house for dinner. I’ll cook, you bring the wine.”

No word yet on what’s on the menu, or whether Torvald’s calendar is free that night.