Note: Free as in beer! Join MontaVista Software and distinguished open source licensing authority Jason Wacha for a review of issues surrounding open source licensing. Starting from base principles of differences between laws, licenses, and commercial agreements, Mr. Wacha will move on to issues surrounding the use of a General Public License (GPL) and how it affects Linux and other open source software.

Richard Stallman says "I've talked with our lawyer about one specific issue that you raised: that of using simple material from header files. Someone recently made the claim that including a header file always makes a derivative work. That's not the FSF's view..."

OpenSolaris derivative aims to create an all open source baseline for future distributions, with 100% ABI compatibility and more openness, transparency and innovation

I’ve been using Ubuntu (or a derivative) for two years now. But then I noticed the new cool kid: PCLinuxOS. It naturally runs KDE, as opposed to being a derivative like Kubuntu. But then I started to notice PCLOS falls short in some areas where Kubuntu shines. So how does it all break down?

The Gobuntu development team would like to announce that after 8.04 release of Gobuntu, the project will aim to merge many of the Gobuntu changes into mainline Ubuntu, such as our “Free Software Only” installer option which only installs software considered free by the Free Software Foundation’s definition of software freedom.

"Hi all, The Gobuntu development team would like to announce that after 8.04 release of Gobuntu, the project will aim to merge many of the Gobuntu changes into mainline Ubuntu, such as our "Free Software Only" installer option which only installs software considered free by the Free Software Foundation's definition of software freedom.

Lubuntu is now an official Ubuntu derivative as of 10.04, it is the LXDE version of Ubuntu just as Kubuntu is a KDE edition or Xubuntu is an XFCE variation. I was looking for a solid lightweight distro to run on that would still provide we with the power and flexibility I was used to from Ubuntu, thus it is only natural that I should choose an Ubuntu derivative.

Red Hat has settled patent suits with Firestar Software, Inc., Amphion, and Datatern related to the jBoss Hibernate package on a patent covering the Object-Relational Database Model which Red Hat contested was not in Red Hat Linux. The settlement is said to protect upstream developers and derivative works of the upstream software, thus protecting the overall Open Source community.

"Yesterday, we made some changes to the Free Software Definition to help clarify a few points that had been confusing for people in the past..."