FreeBSD and the GPL

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Freedom is as freedom does

The persistent argument between Linux and BSD users surrounds the meaning of, and the parameters around, the word 'freedom', and how this is reflected in the licensing of the software.

The BSD licence is permissive, in that the code can be repackaged in any form, re-labelled and absorbed into proprietary formats, as long as attribution is given. Changes to the code can be passed on in a closed format.

The GPL also allows third parties to take the code, repackage it, and pass it on in any form they wish, but ensures reciprocity by obliging those who distribute the code to pass on any changes under the same licence, thus preventing forks and preserving the free and open source nature of the code.

BSD users have always argued that a permissive licence is more friendly to business, protects 'IP' and offers real freedom to the end user who is able to do as he or she wishes with the software. Advocates of Free Software argue that the GPL not only guarantees the freedom of the code, but also helps to build recopricity and community, and ensures open standards and the continuity of the code which are vital if people are going to interoperate in a networked world.

After the war

The Unix companies had their fingers burnt with the fracturing of Unix and open standards during the eighties and nineties. If they had learned anything from the "Unix wars", it was that proprietary operating systems, even if they are your own, cost money and create hurdles for other parts of your business - unless you have a monopoly on the operating system, as Microsoft does, or in its own corner of the market, as Apple does.

Solaris, which was developed by Sun Microsystems, wasn't quite like Irix (SGI), which wasn't quite like HPUX (HP), which wasn't quite like AIX (IBM), which wasn't quite like Tru64 (DEC). And none of them necessarily played well together, which complicated the market for ISVs and inhibited the development of common interfaces and utilities.

Unix had been touted as the universal operating system, and each of these companies was pouring huge resources into developing proprietary versions of the same operating system at the expense of the hardware, services and userland software that were their core business.

Liberating the OS

The arrival of GNU/Linux opened up new possibilities. Once more than one hardware company had formed a commitment to Linux it became obvious that there was a mutual advantage in contributing back to the project, and they did. The framework that made this possible was the GPL.

The release of core chunks of corporate code accelerated the development of Linux and ensured its success in the enterprise, enhanced by its portability across a wide range of hardware.

Adoption of FreeBSD was equally plausible on a technical level but, assuming that the BSDs were ever considered for a similar role the BSD licence made it easier to fork the code, which retracted the advantages of being "open source" - which were commonality, interoperability, and the shared benefits of collaboration with your competitors.

GNU/Linux also had the political advantage of being an independent implementation of the POSIX specification, based on Unix Sys V R4, which was the basis for commonality among the proprietary versions of Unix.

The GPL encourages commoditisation, and at the system level, commoditisation reduces costs and benefits everybody.

Commoditisation of the operating system ensures commonality of standards. This makes it easier to port software between different machines and architectures, and makes it easier to design hardware itself, which increasingly operates within very slim margins.

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