Sun has announced plans to offer its OpenSolaris operating system under the GPLv3. The move could increase OpenSolaris adoption, and could also help GPLv3 gain acceptance, according to an editorial by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols at Linux-Watch.

OpenSolaris will continue to be available under Sun's CDDL (Common Development and Distribution License). However, that license's reciprocal nature limits its appeal to open source community developers, Vaughan-Nichols has long asserted.

Now, OpenSolaris's GPLv3 option will allow developers to mix its source code with other GPLv3-licensed software — GNU project software, for example. “This can only benefit both OpenSolaris and the other GPLv3 programs,” Vaughan-Nichols writes.

Additionally, having a major operating system adopt the GPLv3 will help the GPLv3 gain momentum, Vaughan-Nichols suggests. He writes, “I still believe that the GPLv2, thanks to the loyal support of Linus Torvalds and the other Linux core developers, will continue to be the single most important open-source license. I now think, however, that the GPLv3 will soon become a strong number two.”

Click below to read Vaughan-Nichols's complete essay, at Linux-Watch:

 
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