[GRASS-web] GRASS GIS and the OIN community

[Shane Coughlan]

My name is Shane Coughlan and I am from Open Invention Network (OIN). We are a community organisation that helps insulate everyone using Linux from patent tension. I want to talk about working together.

OIN has a community of over 975 companies and projects that pledge never to use patents aggressively over Linux System technology. Our community is extremely diverse, ranging from Google, Dropbox, Verizon, Red Hat and LG Electronics to projects like CentOS, Gentoo, KDE and OpenStack. Everyone makes the same non-aggression pledge to underline that no matter how big or small the stakeholder, we don’t want any patent conflict around Linux.

This is the largest community in the world to address patent challenges. Our goal is to create a non-aggression “standard of behaviour” and we have come a long way towards accomplishing that. Now we would like your help. We want you to support non-aggression and make this important principle even stronger.

Our community is free and lowers risk for everyone. The best news? It only takes three minutes to complete our non-aggression pledge online:
http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/joining-oin/license-agreement/

Please help us push patent aggression out of Open Source. Whether you see this as a contribution to software freedom or pragmatic method of risk reduction, your support is deeply appreciated. This is the perfect moment to lend a hand. We are seeking the final 25 pledges to pass 1,000 organisations supporting patent non-aggression. It would be fantastic if you could be part of this milestone.

Regards

Shane


Micro FAQ:

Q: What do you mean by “Linux”?
A: We mean something we call the “Linux System”, which is the Linux kernel plus 2,200 other software packages. The full list of current packages is here:
http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/joining-oin/linux-system/linux-system-table/?cat_id=7&type=table

Q: Why don’t you just protect all Open Source from patent aggression?
A: We use a patent license to make the non-aggression pledge “real.” This is similar but different to the way the GNU GPL license makes Linux kernel distribution terms “real.” The patent license needs to be specific about what is covered, so we make a list of software packages.

Q: What about software packages not in the Linux System?
A: We update the Linux System about once a year and add new packages each time.

Q: What’s the catch?
A: If you make this pledge, you can’t use patents against the Linux System.

Q: What now?
A: Please go here and pledge your support for patent non-aggression:
http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/joining-oin/license-agreement/

--
Shane Coughlan
Global Director of Licensing
Open Invention Network
e: scoughlan at openinventionnetwork.com       
p: +81 (0) 80 4035 8083
f: +81 (0) 87 889 0288                    
w: www.openinventionnetwork.com