@Rob Oakes My understanding of the ZFS problem is that the GPL specifically prohibits directly interfacing with software that is under a MORE restrictive license than the GPL itself. Arms length applications are OK, but inclusion in the kernel (which is required with filesystems) is NOT OK. Thus, when Sun chose to license ZFS under the CDDL, that sealed the door to inclusion in the Linux kernel.
There have been attempts in the past to modify the licensing of the Linux kernel itself. The problem is that the Linux kernel includes software copyrighted by literally hundreds if not thousands of individual developers. To make any change in how it is licensed would require written agreement from every one of those developers in order to pass legal muster. That is NOT going to happen. It would be far easier for Oracle to modify the license of ZFS, but that would not be so easy either for precisely the same reason. And if any developer is deceased, one has to get permission from ALL of the heirs. Its a very big deal. So it is much easier to go around the problem.
By the way, this is not just an issue with open source, it is also a major issue with proprietary software as well. Even the OWNERS of a given proprietary software can not change the licensing without agreement from every last stakeholder. It has to do with copyright law, not with whether something is closed source or open source. Copyright law governs both open and closed source licenses.
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