Torvalds Says No to GPL 3 for Linux

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) regards digital-rights management (DRM) systems as imposing unnecessary restrictions on software users. "As a campaign to limit users' rights, the adoption of DRM is fundamentally at odds with the spirit of the free software movement," the FSF wrote in a document about the new GPL draft. "Our aim is, and must be, the abolition of DRM as a social practice."

Linus Torvalds, the developer of the Linux kernel, has publicly stated his opposition to the digital-rights management (DRM) provisions that have been proposed for the new version of the GNU General Public License (GPL). The GPL is used by many open-source software developers.

"Conversion isn't going to happen," Torvalds wrote. "I don't think the GPL v3 conversion is going to happen for the kernel, since I personally don't want to convert any of my code."

How to submit a change to the Linux Kernel

For a person or company who wishes to submit a change to the Linux
kernel.
SECTION 1 - CREATING AND SENDING YOUR CHANGE
SECTION 2 - HINTS, TIPS, AND TRICKS
Thanks to Jeff Garzik

USPTO Revamps Open-Source Patent Process

Some interesting developments!!

Diane Peters, general counsel for OSDL, said she believed that the combined efforts of the open-source community and government would lead to a reduction in the number of legal threats to open-source developers and businesses.

The Patent Office officials met with the open-source community and several universities last month to discuss specific software patent quality issues. The main focus of the meeting was to create a better process for acquiring "the best prior art references" for the initial examination process.

A three steps program has been put in place:
1- The open patent review program will permit anyone to submit search criteria and to opt in to receive e-mailed updates with links to newly published patent applications. The goal, according to IBM, is to "establish an open collaborative community review within the patenting process to improve the quality of patent examination."

2- A second initiative will rely on OSDL, IBM, Red Hat, Novell, and VA Software's SourceForge.net to develop a system that will store source code in an electronically searchable format.


3- The Patent Quality Index, under the direction of Professor R. Polk Wagner of the University of Pennsylvania, will create a unified, numeric index through which the quality of patents and patent applications can be assessed.

Gates worries at the begining of Open source, February 1976

By William Henry Gates III
February 3, 1976
An Open Letter to Hobbyists
To me, the most critical thing in the hobby market right now is the lack of good software courses, books and software itself. Without good software and an owner who understands programming, a hobby computer is wasted. Will quality software be written for the hobby market?
Almost a year ago, Paul Allen and myself, expecting the hobby market to expand, hired Monte Davidoff and developed Altair BASIC. Though the initial work took only two months, the three of us have spent most of the last year documenting, improving and adding features to BASIC. Now we have 4K, 8K, EXTENDED, ROM and DISK BASIC. The value of the computer time we have used exceeds $40,000.
The feedback we have gotten from the hundreds of people who say they are using BASIC has all been positive. Two surprising things are apparent, however, 1) Most of these "users" never bought BASIC (less than 10% of all Altair owners have bought BASIC), and 2) The amount of royalties we have received from sales to hobbyists makes the time spent on Altair BASIC worth less than $2 an hour.
Why is this? As the majority of hobbyists must be aware, most of you steal your software. Hardware must be paid for, but software is something to share. Who cares if the people who worked on it get paid?
Is this fair? One thing you don't do by stealing software is get back at MITS for some problem you may have had. MITS doesn't make money selling software. The royalty paid to us, the manual, the tape and the overhead make it a break-even operation. One thing you do do is prevent good software from being written. Who can afford to do professional work for nothing? What hobbyist can put 3-man years into programming, finding all bugs, documenting his product and distribute for free? The fact is, no one besides us has invested a lot of money in hobby software. We have written 6800 BASIC, and are writing 8080 APL and 6800 APL, but there is very little incentive to make this software available to hobbyists. Most directly, the thing you do is theft.
What about the guys who re-sell Altair BASIC, aren't they making money on hobby software? Yes, but those who have been reported to us may lose in the end. They are the ones who give hobbyists a bad name, and should be kicked out of any club meeting they show up at.
I would appreciate letters from any one who wants to pay up, or has a suggestion or comment. Just write to me at 1180 Alvarado SE, #114, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87108. Nothing would please me more than being able to hire ten programmers and deluge the hobby market with good software.


Bill Gates
General Partner, Micro-Soft