GRAMPS and GPL3
A while back, someone asked if GRAMPS would move to the GPL3 from the current GPL2. At that time, I really didn’t see any advantage. Recent events, however, are changing my mind.
The recent Microsoft/Novell agreement is raising the patent threat under the guise of “interoperability”. In Steve Ballmer’s own words:
Novell is actually just a proxy for its customers, and it’s only for its customers. This does not apply to any forms of Linux other than Novell’s SUSE Linux. And if people want to have patent peace and interoperability, they’ll look at Novell’s SUSE Linux. If they make other choices, they have all of the compliance and intellectual property issues that are associated with that.
Much has been said about this topic, so I don’t really need to go into much more detail. However, Novell’s actions are convincing me that the GPL3 is becoming a necessity.
