Last month, Cache Computing, a South Lake Tahoe, Calif. technology company, learned that “open source” doesn’t always mean using anything you want.
The company released its source code to InfiniteOS, an alternative to Apple Computer’s official Macintosh operating system under the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) (www.debian.org/misc/bsd.license) free software license. Developers soon noted that two components in the code originated in Linux and, as a result, the code was made available under another free software license, the GNU Public License (GPL) (www.gnu.ai.mit.edu).
To see how people reacted to this breech of the GPL license, refer to the Slashdot site (www.slashdot.org).
How does open source work? The term open source (www.opensource.org/history.html) is relatively new, but the concept of freely available and distributable source code isn’t (GNU goes back to 1984). To contribute to an open source project, you must agree to certain coding standards (www.fsf.org/prep/standardstoc.html) in order to keep the code easily interoperable. For example, you need to agree on which language you’re allowed to use; which version of that language; and how to contribute to that language). Some recent open source programs let developers check particular components under certain restrictions, which is an easy way to see where bugs and solutions originate.
Where is open source going? More and more companies associated with for-profit software are joining the bandwagon. Netscape’s Public License, FAQ (www.mozilla.org/NPL/FAQ.html) answers many questions regarding how BSD and GPL work together. Also, a one-sided but instructive view on how Linux, BSD and GNU interact is available on Richard Stallman’s page (www.fsf.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html).
Now all you have to do is think of something ingenious to add to the code base. And don’t forget to read the Public License first!
