Microsoft Word Hardware Reconfiguration Methodology V final2

Licensing

Software licensing can be a contentious issue and it can have a dramatic impact on which type of long-term maintenance to use. Almost all FOSS-based software is distributed with a specific type of software license. There are many different types of licenses and although many of them are similar, each one grants specific rights and limitations to the end-user. Commonly the end-user is considered the organization that is using or deploying the software in question. However, this definition equally applies individuals using the same software at home.

It is common for software licensing to become a complicated and convoluted matter not just for government departments but also for any involved party. The problem with software licenses is that the language they employ is often subtle, vague, and all too often all encompassing. Unfortunately, where software licenses are concerned there are often many subtle nuances that have to be understood in order for the end-user to understand his rights and limitations. However, licenses tend to grant few rights although they do generally contain many legal limitations. Report [3] may serve as an interesting starting point for those interested in comparing two different commercial licenses used for FOSS. In the report, a table has been provided to provide a useful comparative examination.

However, FOSS licenses tend to be far less restrictive than their commercial counterparts are. Commercial Linux distributions, while open source in nature, are generally bundled with commercial licenses that are often more restrictive than most FOSS-based licenses. However, these licenses tend not to be as confining as other non-FOSS commercial licenses.

1. Types

An important question to ask before deploying any open source product is what type of license is the software bundled under? There are currently more than 50 different types of open source licenses, and while many are similar, they each have their own specific advantages and drawbacks, rights and limitations. The two most commonly encountered are GPL or BSD-based. Many of the other currently available licenses are derivations of these two types.

In a military setting where intellectual property (IP) is important it is advised that a BSD-based license be used as it allows the end-user to preserve full rights to any changes he makes to the source code. Conversely, GPL-based licenses generally require that all changes made to the source code be given back to the community. Where matters of national security are concerned this may not be in the best interest of Canada.

It is therefore important to understand the implication of the license type for the C2 system and what types of maintenance can be performed on it. If maintenance is provided by the vendor [2] then all legal responsibility rests with them, otherwise if maintenance is to be done in-house then a legal analysis of the license should be considered before adopting it. Unfortunately, the Canadian government has not yet reached a decision about how to treat open source licenses (this is normally the jurisdiction of Justice Canada).

2.