10.31.07
The First GPLv3-licensed Operating System?
A reader has just pointed out to us that EyeOS had gone GPLv3.
Some of us used to wonder if Sun Microsystems would keep up with its half-promises and commitments. We thought that Simon Phipps would have an ongoing debate about the GNU GPLv3 actually materialise to become a walk (OpenSolaris). Nothing yet however.
EyeOS might therefore be the first so-called operating system that embraces the new licence. Our reader has enthusiastically described the situation as follows.
Another great project goes GPLv3, this time taking the OS out of the PC and building a “cloud OS”, but one that anyone can implement by themselves and that is guaranteed that no big corporation would gain exclusive control over thanks to the GPL.
Isn’t that wonderful? This comes to show the value of the licence, which some people blindly overlook. Well, the blind cannot truly look, can s/he? Therein lies the rub. Some people just blindly dismiss the licence because they got exposed to nothing but FUD. There was a well-orchestrated FUD campaign.
Returning to EyeOS, our reader continues:
Just download the package, unzip/untar it in your LAMP (even WAMP) server’s www directory, chmod 777 to the folder and launch install.php
Voila, you have an operating system 100% accessible from any Web browser (Firefox works great).
Here is the project’s Web site. The GPLv3 family appears to be extending very rapidly. Since GPLv3 addresses some of the issue that we describe in this Web site, the development above is good news indeed.
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.