| Samba officially adopts GPLv3 for future releases |
Jul. 09, 2007
In a note from leading Samba developer Jeremy Allison, The Samba Group announced that it is keeping its promise to move its code base to GPLv3.
It wasn't an automatic move though. Without going into detail, Allison wrote, "After internal consideration in the Samba Team we have decided to adopt the GPLv3 and LGPLv3 licenses for all future releases of Samba." The Samba programmers feel that "[t]he GPLv3 ... has been updated to improve compatibility with other licenses and to make it easier to adopt internationally, and is an improved version of the license to better suit the needs of free software in the 21st century."
The long-awaited GPLv3 free software license was released on June 29. Many other open-source projects have
reacted coolly to the new license. In particular, the developers of the open-source poster child, the Linux operating system, have dismissed moving to the GPLv3.
"We are updating our next version release number. The next planned version release was to be 3.0.26; this will now be renumbered, so the GPLv3 version release will be 3.2.0," Allison said.
"To be clear, all versions of Samba numbered 3.2 and later will be under the GPLv3; all versions of Samba numbered 3.0.x and before remain under the GPLv2," he added.
In an attached FAQ statement, the Samba programmers explained what this change will mean for developers.
For would-be Samba programmers, they said, "New code contributions will be accepted in exactly the same way as before. As Samba has always accepted code with the 'or (at your option) any later version' of the GPL, contributors do not need to change anything about their submissions."
The developers also made it clear that they're not abandoning users of older versions of Samba. "As with previous major version changes, the team will continue to provide security fixes for 3.0.25b releases for as long as this code base is widely used. All new features will only be developed for the new 3.2.x or later GPLv3 versions however."
Then, they moved on to stickier matters. For example, if you're the author of a GPLv2-only program, you will not be able to use the Samba 3.2 and newer libraries. "If your code is released under a 'GPLv2-only' license, it is not compatible with the Samba libraries released under the GPLv3 or LGPLv3, as the wording of the 'GPLv2-only' license prevents mixing with other licenses," the developers said. "If you wish to use libraries released under the LGPLv3 with your 'GPLv2-only' code, then you will need to modify the license on your code."
Samba also announced that "patent covenant deals done after 28 March 2007 are explicitly incompatible with the license if they are 'discriminatory' under section 11 of the GPLv3." This is also known as the Novell clause. It keeps the Novell/Microsoft patent partnership from falling afoul of GPLv3.
The developers continued, "Samba distributors who have made such patent covenant agreements after that date will not have the right to distribute any version of Samba covered by the GPLv3 (Samba 3.2 or later). The rights of vendors to ship 3.0.25b and previous versions are unchanged and remain as it was under the GPLv2. Consult legal advice if you are in doubt."
This would seem to mean that Linux companies such as Linspire and Xandros, which signed patent agreements with Microsoft in June 2007, will not be able to ship Samba 3.2 or later. They will, however, be able to ship their Linux distributions with older versions of Samba.
Microsoft denies that it, or any of its deals with Linux companies, places it under any GPLv3 obligations whatsoever. Others, however, don't see how Microsoft can possibly maintain this position.
—Steven J. Vaughan Nichols
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