Open-source to get an upgrade

A major revamp of the General Public License (GPL) is scheduled for public release next week, a move that's expected to kick off a long and vocal debate over the key foundation of open-source programming. GPL governed software includes Linux, Samba, MySQL and thousands of other open source projects.

The Free Software Foundation will release and describe the first public draft of version 3 of the document on Jan 16, at the First International Conference on GPLv3 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This may not seem like the most exciting piece of tech news, particularly given the fabulous string of announcements we have had coming out of CES and Macworld, but it is none the less profound.

For this is the first time that the GPL is being updated for 15 years. And it tackles key issues such as patent infringement and management, commercialisation, integration with other (open-source) software and public servers.

Modernising GPL is important for the entire tech industry and even for world economies. Over the next decade will see open-source projects reach a state of maturity and acceptance that will make them mass market solutions and platforms. Some even challenging the dominace of Microsoft. After all, look at what Linux has achieved in the last decade.