Computer Associates (CA) today announced an ambitious plan to replace existing open source licenses with a single, template-based license. However, CA's Template License would give companies way too much control, according to Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, who responded to CA's announcement with a spicey editorial published by eWEEK.com.

Vaughan-Nichols says that CA's proposed Template License would be based on Sun's controversial CDDL license, or else on CA's own little-used Trusted Open Source License. While both are OSI-approved open source licenses, the OSI is in the process of distancing itself from the CDDL and other commercially oriented licenses, Vaughan-Nichols suggests.

Another problem with CA's proposed license, Vaughan-Nichols says, is the added complication that localized templates for hundreds of different countries could add. While such an arrangement could potentially help enforceability, it goes against the OSI's wish for licenses that serve people, rather than attorneys.

More about CA's Template license can be found here.

Vaughan-Nichols's editorial is available here:

 
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