LOGIN | REGISTER NOW | SUBSCRIBE
 
print Printable version 
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
Mono brings .NET to Android
At Microsoft MIX, Mono will unveil the ability to port .NET applications to the Android op...

Does Windows cost Microsoft opportunities?
Microsoft's decision to focus .NET on Windows is stifling innovation due to the specter of...

OSBC focus turns to best practices for open-source adoption
Businesses are no longer asking why they should adopt, but how do they use open source leg...

Digg!  Digg
Reddit  Reddit
Slashdot  Slashdot
Share on facebook  Facebook
Share on Twitter  Twitter

Quacking Through Licensing Complexity


Black Duck’s open source licensing solution tackles GPLv3

By David Worthington
August 6, 2007 — 
Think the latest version of the GPL is confusing? Just try to keep track of the software components that are governed by version 3 versus those that are not. If that doesn’t make one’s head spin, the task will be compounded by the presence of other open source license schemes, including the Apache, BSD and Open Source Initiative (OSI) licenses.

Black Duck Software claims it has the answer to the problem of staying in compliance with a flock of licensing requirements—whatever they may be. Black Duck released protexIP/development 4.4 on Aug. 6, approximately one month after GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3) was finalized.

The 4.4 release is designed to help organizations incorporate code from open source projects and distinguish projects that have explicitly switched to GPLv3 from those that have not. GPLv3 is not wholly compatible with earlier versions of the GPL—most prominently, certain GPLv2 licenses—making it difficult to ensure that components’ licenses do not conflict.

Users may now add comments about specific license requirements and use LDAP directories to manage access to the system. The administration GUI has been updated and provides an overall view of protexIP server functions, including access and usage data.

BlackDuck CEO and president Doug Levin explained that the company monitors more than 3,500 open source sites on the Internet. Code from projects is entered into a central database and converted into smaller representations of the original code. protexIP identifies code in customer projects and links it to the license that governs it.

The technology centerpiece of protexIP is the company’s KnowledgeBase library that archives licensing details for more than 140,000 open source and vendor-added software components. Customer library repositories receive updates via the Web each month.

Specifically, KnowledgeBase includes entries on patent licensing grants, express provisions that provide patent licenses pertaining to the work, patent retaliation clauses, and anti-DRM clauses that prevent the use of code as a technical protection measure.


Share this link: http://www.sdtimes.com/link/31007
 

Add comment


Name*
Email*  
Country     


  • Comment
  • Preview
Loading



 
 
 
 
News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>


   

 
 
Download Current Issue
ISSUE 3/15/2010 PDF

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Receive the print Edition?


 
blogs tab
Google Code turns 5
Google Code Turns 5, and adds a Paxos Algorithm to make the system more stable and reliable.
03/17/2010 11:16 AM EST

Test your Visual Studio 2010 know-how
Microsoft is offering free beta certification exams for Visual Studio 2010.
03/17/2010 11:08 AM EST

Microsoft lifts the hood on IE9
Microsoft is previewing IE9.
03/16/2010 01:10 PM EST

 

Events calendar tab
EclipseCon
3/22/2010 to 3/25/2010
Santa Clara, Calif.
The Eclipse Foundation

DevConnections
4/12/2010 to 4/14/2010
Las Vegas
Penton Media

MySQL Conf. and Expo
4/12/2010 to 4/15/2010
Santa Clara, Calif.
O'Reilly Media

High Performance Computing Linux Financial Markets
4/19/2010
New York City
Flagg Management

Informix User Conf.
4/25/2010 to 4/28/2010
Overland Park, Kans.
IIUG