Linux license delayed by Novell/Microsoft review

BOSTON (Reuters) - The partnership between Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O) and Novell Inc. NOVL.O has delayed completion of a new license that will govern rights to key parts of the Linux operating system.

The Free Software Foundation general counsel Eben Moglen said on Monday the controversy over the Microsoft- Novell deal has complicated the completion of General Public License version 3, or GPLv3, which will be used to govern rights to thousands of open-source computer programs created by software developers around the globe.

Some supporters of the open-source software movement have called on the Foundation to use the new agreement to address the Microsoft-Novell deal, such as by restricting Novell's ability to distribute upgrades of key parts of open-source Linux that are covered by GPLv3.

They have circulated petitions and filled Web blogs with treatises describing Novell as "a traitor" for doing a deal with Microsoft, which they see as an enemy to the open source software movement.

Moglen said on February 2 he hoped the document would be completed by the end of this week. That goal is no longer realistic, Moglen said on Monday.

The foundation's board "has decisions to make," he said in an interview with Reuters.

He believed the final draft of the document, which will likely be implemented in March, will be ready for public release "very soon."

He declined to elaborate.

GPLv3 will govern software programs for diverse tasks -- from operating complex corporate computer systems to playing DVDs, running games and sending email.

Analysts say they are eager to read the GPLv3 draft to see how the foundation responds to calls for the board to take punitive action against Novell for entering into a business deal with Microsoft.

Moglen declined to say whether the Free Software Foundation's board was leaning toward using the GPLv3 to address open-source community disdain for the Microsoft-Novell accord, which was announced in November.

Novell declined comment, saying it would wait for the licensing document to be released first.

Novell and Microsoft agreed in November to sell their products jointly and to develop technologies to make it easier for businesses to use Linux alongside Windows software. They also agreed to license each other's intellectual property.