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GNU-Darwin, a part of SourceForce.net (a Net-based, open-source community of developers) has stopped development of the PPC version of OpenOSX (not affiliated with OpenOSX.org) in protest over what they view as Apple's intransigence vis-a-vis the Apple Public-Source License, as well as the mothership's role in and use of the DMCA, or Digital Millennium Copyright Act. According to a post by "proclu" on the SourceForge forums that states, in part: Apple continues the wall-of-silence with respect to their repugnant DMCA-based legal action, and there is no reason whatsoever for us to think that they will not undertake similar action in the future. It is regrettable that the DMCA was Apple-sponsored legislation, and it is now time for them to disavow it and promise never to employ it. Second, APSL is languishing, and it is unacceptable to the free software community. In response to the inaction on these crucial items, we are taking two actions. First, we are making explicit and binding the following policy. GNU-Darwin will not support or distribute any software which links to proprietary libraries, and that includes Cocoa, Carbon, CoreAudio, etc. Second, we will be moving our operations to x86, and we are putting the ppc collection into maintenance mode. Fashioning barbs... This announcement doesn't come as a surprise given the on-going feud between Apple and open-source developers. Moreover, given the intransigence regularly exhibited by both camps, it's not surprising that the feud is spilling out into reality. Though the open-source movement -- as if it can be reckoned to be anything so singular -- is one of the most vocal and, in some respects, effective opponents of M$ (how bad can that be?), their stand in the present case can only harm it and Apple. Fundamentally, I believe their inability to accept Apple's less-than-pure position on GPL and, specifically, APSL will drive a wedge between themselves and the corporate software community at large. Redmond will most likely welcome this news and say snidely, "I told you so." Thereupon, it must be recognized that a big part of integrity is acknowledging that nothing is pure and moving on from there -- ie Apple isn't everything the GPL'ers want, but it's light years better than the alternative. Likewise, if Apple actively repudiated the DCMA, that would probably do lot, perhaps enough, to at least put a scab on this ugly and public wound -- a fight over principal that can and should be fought after the dragon has been slain.
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