ZDNet: Why Java Won’t be GPL’d

“Rumors have been swirling lately about what license Sun will
choose for open source Java. One thing’s clear to me–it won’t be
GPLv3. I know Jonathan Schwartz says that ‘using a GPL license is
very much *on* the table,’ but the DRM restrictions famously
pointed out by Linus Torvalds will almost certainly put the kibosh
on that. I suppose they could use GPLv2, but it would be very
unusual for a large contribution like the JDK to be stuck at a
back-level of the license (Linux is the only other example that
comes to mind).

“The problem is that GPLv3 section 3 (2nd draft) says ‘no
permission is given for modes of conveying that deny users that run
covered works the full exercise of the legal rights granted by this
License…'”

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