The Open Source Advocate

I have recently read the announcement that Kubuntu 8.04 is NOT going to be an LTS release, thereby deviating from the release schedule of all the other Ubuntu variants. I believe that it would be more beneficial to synchronize the LTS releases between the official Ubuntu variants. First of all, Ubuntu needs to solidify its public image as much as possible. This is even more important while it has such a small mind-share in the overall technology market. Most computers users have no idea what an LTS release is, and they could be confused by mis-matched numbers. "Why is Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and Kubuntu 8.04 not LTS? Why is Ubuntu 8.10 not LTS and Kubuntu 8.10 is LTS?" Some IT departments might choose to only support LTS releases of Ubuntu. Now they must work with their KDE users who would need to upgrade on a different schedule than their Gnome users. I understand why Kubuntu wants to delay their LTS release. They have a shiny new version 4.0 that provides many new features...

I keep hearing people talk about the need for a legal test case against the GPL. This has not happened yet in the US, and some people think it is necessary to legally legitimize the GPL license. These GPL-supporters hoped that the recent Busybox vs Monsoon Multimedia issue would satisfy this requirement. This turned out not to be the test case because it settled outside of court. After hearing much debate and concern about how and when this all-important test case will take place, a very simple idea entered my mind. Why don't we just create this test case ourselves? Start with two pro-GPL parties, and have one party infringe against the GPL license. Then have the other party sue the first for its violation of the GPL license. Of course the specifics can be determined in advance to make the decision most favorable to defending the GPL. I expect that the legal costs for this case will be minuscule compared to the value it would bring. Once the case has been decided in favor o...