01.13.08
SimCity (Micropolis) Moves to the GNU GPLv3, Whose Adoption Keeps Rising
In terms of adoption, the growth of the GNU GPLv3 has been so healthy that it was barely worth mentioning in the past few months. However, an interesting new addition is SimCity (called Micropolis due to trademarks), which is coming to OLPCs. The story behind such proprietary abandonware (arguably so) is what earned this transition wider exposure in the Internet. Here is where you’ll find pretty much everything you need.
This is the binary and source code for Micropolis (A.K.A. “S*mC*ty”: see the GPL License and additional terms, below), which is released under the GPL.
Looking at Palamida’s latest report again (published on Friday), all is well.
This is an increase of 62 new GPL v3 projects, which is a sign that the rates are picking up again from the holiday slump.
Widespread GPLv3 adoption is inevitable. An interview with Linus Torvalds was published last week and it was actually used by GPLv3 foes to kick a dead horse and spread some more FUD for a couple of days. █
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.
Steeley said,
January 24, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Really pleased that EA have open-sourced this game. Its a very welcome gesture from them.