The GPL - Not fade away
These days free and open source software (FOSS) is recognised as a significant model for the development and distribution of software, transforming the way that software is written, perceived, packaged and sold. A large part of the success of free and open source software has been due to the revolution in software licensing that was led by the GNU General Public License (GPL).
So it is surprising to see a re-emergence of the argument that "we don't need the GPL anymore", (the "we" refers to "open source" developers, and more specifically, to the Linux kernel developers), and that the argument is underpinned by the hoary suggestion that business is "afraid" of the GPL.
Perhaps it is less surprising that the proponent of the argument turns out to be Eric Raymond, a consistent opponent of the GPL. Raymond is not a Linux kernel developer, although he did initiate an ultimately unsuccessful project to rewrite the kbuild system for configuring Linux kernels, and was well known in the late nineties both for his writings and his part in the creation of the Open Source initiative (OSI). The thrust of Raymond's argument is that the success of the Linux kernel project was due to the personal skills of Linus Torvalds.
He says "I don't think the GPL is the principal reason for Linux's success. Rather, I believe it's because in 1991 Linus was the first person to find the right social architecture for distributed software development,". "The GPL helped, but I think mainly as a sort of social signal rather than as a legal document with teeth."
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