Open Service Tag, released under GPLv3
Licensing tends to be a common question, when it comes to giving a talk on MySQL. More recently, some have asked me if MySQL will be relicensed under the CDDL? Some ask why we’re GPLv2 and not GPLv3 yet? And some, genuinely want to know the merits of writing for BSD-based software (PostgreSQL) or GPL-based software (MySQL).
While I am not a soothsayer, I am pretty sure we will not be relicensing MySQL under the CDDL (might make for a good April 1 joke though?). What seems like a logical progression is to probably go GPLv3, from our current GPLv2 stance.
And Sun supports the GPLv3 just as it does many other licenses. Take for example, the recently released Open Service Tag. Its released under a GPLv3 license. Contributing to it, requires signing the Sun Contributor’s Agreement (SCA), which is largely similar to MySQL’s current CLA.
So, what is Open Service Tag? Its a small application, that provides a network-based product identifier, and it speaks XML. You can tag a device, and the information automatically becomes available over a network. It looks like inventory management made easy. Read more at Steve Wilson’s blog entry, about IT asset tracking.
It runs on Linux, and Mac OS X (release notes don’t mention OS X 10.5, Leopard, but it worked on my laptop just fine), and soon it will run on Windows too.
I can envision myself using it, when my lab is setup again (still waiting for some furniture to arrive, so most computers are still in boxes), to keep track of what kind of hardware I own…
It probably helps the MySQL DBA or sys-admin keep track of large installations just as well. Asset management and tracking is important, in these days where IT budgets are being cut, and as IT becomes even more efficient (think virtualization, more cycles on newer hardware, et al). What do you currently use for asset management?
Technorati Tags: open service tag, sun, gplv3, mysql, licensing
Looks kind of like OCS Inventory. Now that Sun is shipping GPLv3 products, hopefully they’ll update http://webhome.sfbay/OFR/GPL-LGPLArchRules.html (Sun internal only) which says ‘Change “GPLv2 or later” to “GPLv2”.’ amongst other things.
[…] community, which currently focus on xVM and xVM VirtualBox. It also harnesses technologies like Open Service Tag. All in all, I think a lot of MySQL users should be interested in virtualization, as there is a […]