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As I guessed would be the likely scenario in my anticipatory article last week about the Free Software Foundation (FSF) GPL V.3, the group will provide another review round. This step is being taken primarily because of the changes FSF wants to make vis a vis the Microsoft-Novell Alliance.

There are likely to be other controversial changes between drafts 2 and 3 as well because of the problems that leading open source software (OSS) movement individuals and companies such as Linus Torvalds and mySQL expressed about draft 2. I have copied below the FSF's explanatory letter below in total so as to avoid the kind of editorializing that Reuters spun out on this issue.

If my arithmetic is right, we should now expect the final version in the summer of 2007. This lengthening of the process keeps the group true to its openness philosophy and they should be congratulated for it. If past process is held, the new draft and an explanatory list of changes will be available at fsf.org. Here is the letter:

"The second discussion draft of GPLv3 was released eight months ago, in July
2006. We had never planned to let so much time pass between public
releases of the license. We felt it was important to fully discuss a few
specific issues, including the recent patent deal between Novell and
Microsoft, before proceeding with the process. A new discussion draft will
be released on March 28 at 10:00 AM US Eastern time; it represents the
outcome of those discussions, and the rationale document that will
accompany it explains how we arrived at these decisions. However, we
remain absolutely committed to hearing input from as much of the free
software community as possible before publishing a final version of the
license. We are adjusting the drafting process to make sure that everyone
interested has an opportunity to make their voice heard.

"The third discussion draft will be open for comment for sixty days. Based
on the feedback we receive during this window, we may publish new language
from time to time for additional review. For example, if someone points
out a side effect of some term that we hadn't considered before, we may
publish updated text for that section aimed at addressing the issue. These
changes will be announced on the GPLv3 web site and mailing list.

"We will continue to take feedback from public comments and discussion
committees as before. In addition, if there are common questions about the
license, we will address those in blog posts on the GPLv3 web site. Our
goal is not to preempt discussion or criticism of the draft, but rather to
enhance that discussion by helping the community fully understand the text.
We are also considering other ways to solicit input, which we will announce
as they are planned.

"After this discussion period is over, we will publish a last call draft.
That draft will be open for comment for thirty days, and the final license
will be published shortly afterwards. We would like to thank everyone for
their continued support during this process, and their assistance as we
work to make the our licenses the best they can be."

Posted by dennisb in OSS Culture |Digg This|Add to del.icio.us

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