sreevirus
Certified Nutz
i got this from the zdnet india newsletter and i'm not sure if this is the rt place to post this (GNUrag may have objections) 
i'm only pasting the key parts here.
SOURCE
Sun Microsystems has quietly begun seeking official open-source status for a new software license that likely will be used to govern its Solaris operating system.
But the license may inhibit cross-pollination between Solaris and Linux--a sacrifice Sun appears willing to make in its effort to attract developers and revitalize its version of Unix.
On Wednesday evening, CNET News.com has learned, Sun submitted a description of its Common Development and Distribution License, or CDDL, to the Open Source Initiative. The nonprofit group reviews licenses and bestows official open-source status on those that meet the Open Source Definition requirements.
The CDDL lets programmers see, change and distribute source code for any programming project it governs. Unlike some open-source licenses, it requires that modifications be shared as open-source software.
Sun's CDDL description addressed the difficulties of intermingling software covered by the CDDL with software covered by the General Public License, or GPL--the license that governs Linux.
"The CDDL is not expected to be compatible with the GPL, since it contains requirements that are not in the GPL," Claire Giordano of Sun's CDDL team said in its submission. "Thus, it is likely that files released under the CDDL will not be able to be combined with files released under the GPL to create a larger program."
In its description, Sun said it tried to find an existing open-source license but "reluctantly" drafted its own when none of the others met its needs. However, Sun didn't start from scratch: The CDDL is a variant of the Mozilla Public License 1.1, the license that governs the Web browser project that helped bring the open-source movement to prominence in 1998.
read the full story.
i'm only pasting the key parts here.
SOURCE
Sun Microsystems has quietly begun seeking official open-source status for a new software license that likely will be used to govern its Solaris operating system.
But the license may inhibit cross-pollination between Solaris and Linux--a sacrifice Sun appears willing to make in its effort to attract developers and revitalize its version of Unix.
On Wednesday evening, CNET News.com has learned, Sun submitted a description of its Common Development and Distribution License, or CDDL, to the Open Source Initiative. The nonprofit group reviews licenses and bestows official open-source status on those that meet the Open Source Definition requirements.
The CDDL lets programmers see, change and distribute source code for any programming project it governs. Unlike some open-source licenses, it requires that modifications be shared as open-source software.
Sun's CDDL description addressed the difficulties of intermingling software covered by the CDDL with software covered by the General Public License, or GPL--the license that governs Linux.
"The CDDL is not expected to be compatible with the GPL, since it contains requirements that are not in the GPL," Claire Giordano of Sun's CDDL team said in its submission. "Thus, it is likely that files released under the CDDL will not be able to be combined with files released under the GPL to create a larger program."
In its description, Sun said it tried to find an existing open-source license but "reluctantly" drafted its own when none of the others met its needs. However, Sun didn't start from scratch: The CDDL is a variant of the Mozilla Public License 1.1, the license that governs the Web browser project that helped bring the open-source movement to prominence in 1998.
read the full story.
