AGPL revisited: how MongoDB licensing differs from MySQL

Now that the Affero General Public License (AGPL3) is actually being used by successful projects, I'm looking at it again. Specifically, MongoDB is AGPL3 licensed, and it is being used for commercial applications. But how?!? I though the AGPL was complete communism, and that's what excited me so much about it - one touch of the the brush, and the whole batch of milk is stained vermillion, and your entire enterprise now belongs to Richard Stallman so he can use it to fund GNU HURD.

The AGPL actually has some pretty fixed boundaries:

A compilation of a covered work with other separate and independent works, which are not by their nature extensions of the covered work, and which are not combined with it such as to form a larger program, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium, is called an "aggregate" if the compilation and its resulting copyright are not used to limit the access or legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual works permit. Inclusion of a covered work in an aggregate does not cause this License to apply to the other parts of the aggregate.

Upon reflection, the AGPL isn't as restrictive as I once thought. Let's take what I consider to be the most successful GPL (v2) product: MySQL*, and consider what would have happened if it had been released under AGPL instead. Since Amazon used MySQL code to build RDS, under the AGPL Amazon would be forced to release the code they use to provide the RDS service. They would not be forced to release the code for Amazon.com** however: that would clearly be outside the boundaries set out in AGPL.

Also consider that Facebook uses MySQL internally, with something like 4000 MySQL databases to power much of their site, and they've made many changes to MySQL in order to make that possible, some of which they've made public. If MySQL had been AGPL-licensed, they would have been required to make those changes publicly available under the same license.

Google is also reportedly one of the largest users of MySQL, and in a similar spirit they have released some of their tools. However, they released these tools under the more permissive Apache 2.0 license: if MySQL had been released under AGPL3, Google would most likely have been forced to release these tools under AGPL3 as well.*** And now that Google is also offering Google Cloud SQL made with GPL-based MySQL, they don't have to share their work as they would if MySQL were AGPL3-based.

All of this to say: if you want to use MongoDB to power a web app, have fun: the boundaries within the AGPL3 are there to help you, and probably won't require you to hand over your code to every visitor. However, if you see MongoDB and think "hey, that's cool, I'm going to offer a web service with the MongoDB API and become a cloud provider of NoSQL data storage, just like Amazon SimpleDB" then you will have made a derivative work, and you'll have to share those changes with the world under AGPL3.

Finally, IANAL, not in any jurisdiction, and if you base your legal strategy on lay analyses found on personal blogs, then sadly you're not alone and you're in very risky company. Best of luck, however, in finding a copyright attorney who will dig through these issues for you and give you an opinion for less than $500k.

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* The Linux kernel is more widely used than MySQL, but it's so mixed up with other licences that it can't just be GPL anymore, not honestly - and the copyrights are owned by so many different people that nobody can claim ownership. MySQL, on the other hand, was always extremely diligent about maintaining ownership of every line of code they include in their distribution (which made acquisition by Sun and Oracle all the more attractive).
** ... that is, provided Amazon.com was built using MySQL, which it isn't AFAIK.
*** They could still licence their code any other way they want, as they own it, but they'd be required to license it under AGPL3.

Webcam doesn't work in Skype, but works in Cheese

If your video camera doesn't work in Skype on Ubuntu, but it works in other applications (like Cheese), just run the following script:


sudo echo '#!/bin/bash' > /usr/local/bin/skype
sudo echo "LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/skype" >> /usr/local/bin/skype
sudo chmod ogu+x /usr/local/bin/skype


If you're running 64-bit Ubuntu, the path is somewhat different:


sudo echo '#!/bin/bash' > /usr/local/bin/skype
sudo echo "LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib32/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/skype" >> /usr/local/bin/skype
sudo chmod ogu+x /usr/local/bin/skype


Favourite packages for Ubuntu Intrepid

I recently upgraded to Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex, the 8.10 release. I use "upgraded" in the general term because the distribution upgrade option has never worked for me – I did a clean install.

Add the Medibuntu repository.

then:

sudo apt-get install aacgain acidrip acroread acroread-plugins audacious azureus cabextract easytag ffmpeg flashplugin-nonfree gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gtkpod-aac hardinfo inkscape libdvdcss2 libdvdread3 libdvdread3 libxine1-ffmpeg meld mozilla-acroread mozilla-mplayer mozilla-plugin-vlc mp3gain mplayer msttcorefonts network-manager-pptp openclipart-openoffice.org nfs-common nfs-kernel-server portmap rapidsvn skype smartmontools smbfs totem-xine ubuntu-restricted-extras unrar vlc vlc-plugin-esd w64codecs wine

Favourite packages for Ubuntu

This installs Broadcom wireless, evil ATI driver, VLC, DVD reading, codecs for everything -- all on my amd64 install of Ubuntu Hardy Heron.

I don't know if anybody else will care to use this, but it gives me every package I need.

sudo echo "\n## Medibuntu - Ubuntu 8.04 \"hardy\"\n## Please report any bug on https://bugs.launchpad.net/medibuntu/\nsudo echo "deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ hardy free non-free" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 libdvdread3 flashplugin-nonfree smbfs vlc vlc-plugin-esd mozilla-plugin-vlc gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg libxine1-ffmpeg libdvdread3 w64codecs ffmpeg totem-xine acidrip brasero banshee b43-fwcutter acroread mozilla-acroread acroread-plugins xorg-driver-fglrx azureus inkscape mplayer mozilla-mplayer msttcorefonts wine cabextract nfs-kernel-server nfs-common portmap network-manager-gnome network-manager-pptp unrar rapidsvn audacious meld easytag gtkpod-aac smartmontools xtightvncviewer

and for the SqueezeCenter:

sudo sh
echo "deb http://debian.slimdevices.com testing main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list ; apt-get update; apt-get install squeezecenter

Thanks to:

• Medibuntu for Hardy Heron

AIR delays the inevitable

I've made a bit of peace with AIR since my post earlier. The release notes actually do mention how to install it, and twhirl does work (pretty much, anyhow).

The ridiculousness of blowing away OOo does underscore that folks at Adobe don't work on Linux – doubtless they only really work on Mac and Windows. The fact that they never noticed they had murdered OOo proves it. They don't really understand free software (big surprise, they make their money selling Photoshop discs) and their AIR platform is a roach motel built to extend the life of their Flash development suite. Yes, certain segments are open source: big whoop, as long as the desktop runtime is closed, they can maintain their control. It's all about control. So no matter how shiny and quick and pretty they make AIR, it remains another boring proprietary trap.

Are people really going to fall for it again? Maybe, but they won't do it for long. Competing platforms will race AIR to the bottom, giving away as much as possible to gain developer mind share. Even Microsoft will eventually give away everything on Silverlight in a desperate bid to regain some sort of relevance in the world of developers under the age of 40. Gnash is catching up with Flash. Can Adobe keep running? Yes, but the question is how far.

So eventually AIR won't slag your Linux machine when you install it, and Adobe will have its cross-platform runtime dream. It'll even work, pretty much (those operating system-specific chrome APIs will be the death of them, I swear). But there is no long-term reason the development community will want to paint itself into this corner: there are just too many attractive options. They're going to have to bow to free software sooner or later, and by delaying the inevitable they're missing an opportunity to gather early, unanimous support.

Adobe AIR blows on Linux

I recently decided I wanted to try out twhirl. Since I'm on Ubuntu Gutsy, twhirl runs on Adobe AIR, I knew it was trouble, but I thought I'd give it a try. After all, I recalled reading about an alpha release of AIR. Okay, so I got what I asked for.

So first off, twhirl doesn't work. After installing AIR (which actually wasn't too bad, despite "chmod 777" instructions that would murder a newbie). The webpage-embedded install wouldn't work. So I gave up.

Then, two days later, I try to open an OpenOffice.org spreadsheet (.ODS). Adobe AIR hijacked the .ODS extension! I can't open my spreadsheet? What the FUCK?!? So I right-clicked on my file, went to Properties, Open With, and added OpenOffice.org Spreadsheet. That should work, right? Wrong-o. This thing hijacked the mime type for .ODS and made it "Adobe AIR Application". So now I can't open my spreadsheets, because I get this error:
and when I try to open an AIR application it tries to open it in OOo!

Of course, it installed Goddess only knows what binaries on my machine. For all I know I've been rootkitted. I have no clue how to remove it – the release notes have nothing to say on the subject.

I can fix this. I can fix my MIME types and track down and murder the crapware I've infected my machine with. But word to the wise: do NOT install the Adobe AIR alpha on a machine that you want to do actual work with, because it will be fuxored. Just goes to show you the lack of depth of Adobe's understanding of Linux, their limited capability and exposure to the platform. Furthermore, it goes to show they don't understand the free software universe if they're going to hijack the file extension for frigging OOo.

---

Here's a fix:

sudo "/opt/Adobe AIR/Versions/1.0/xdg-utils/xdg-mime" uninstall "/opt/Adobe AIR/Versions/1.0/support/AdobeAIR.xml"
sudo gedit "/opt/Adobe AIR/Versions/1.0/support/AdobeAIR.xml"

... remove these three lines:

<magic priority="100">
<match type="string" value="PK\003\004" offset="0"/>
</magic>

then:

sudo "/opt/Adobe AIR/Versions/1.0/xdg-utils/xdg-mime" install --mode system --novendor "/opt/Adobe AIR/Versions/1.0/support/AdobeAIR.xml"

... and you're welcome, Adobe. Maybe you could update those release notes? No? I thought not.

Fix slow Ubuntu shutdown with CIFS (SMBFS)

My Ubuntu machine at home always takes a bazillion years to turn off. I've been seeing this "Server not responding" error forever, but I've just ignored it. An explanation from the article "Five things to do on a freshly installed Ubuntu":

CIFS: Unmount CIFS shares before shutting down the network

There is a very nasty bug in Ubuntu, which occurs, if you use NetworkManager and have any active CIFS share while shutting down your system. If you do that, you'll experience a timeout while shutting down, lengthening it by ~30 seconds per share. You'll also get the message CIFS VFS: Server not responding.

There is a bug entry on launchpad, but it is not yet fixed. Fortunately, there is an easy workaround.

Here are my simplified instructions:

cd /etc/init.d
sudo wget http://www.jejik.com/files/examples/umountcifs
sudo chmod ugo+x umountcifs
sudo update-rc.d umountcifs stop 02 0 6 .

That ought to take care of it.

Squeezebox mash note

A couple of months ago I ordered a new home music player, the Squeezebox Duet. I was a little reluctant because it wasn't cheap (nearly $500 by the time you include shipping, import duties, etc) and it requires server software, but I liked the look of it and I liked the fact that the server software was open source. I didn't really look too deeply: I just thought "shiny!" and dug out my credit card. Besides, my bro-in-law loves his old Squeezebox, so I figured it'd be good.

But zOMG, I was totally unprepared for what I got: more than meets the eye. This thing is incredible – a real example of what a great product a company can build when it totally understands how to use open source software to build a platform and build a committed community of users and developers. Everything about it is cool. Yes, I knew I was essentially buying an iPod-style remote control for my stereo which would hook to my network and suck all of my music off my computer (actually, my NAS). But it really is a platform.

First, the hardware is very slick. It is well designed, feels nice, looks very chic, and has tons of room to grow. They built in so many extras that the platform can grow for a long time just catching up with the hardware: 3-axis accelerometer, USB adapter and SD flash slot on the remote, WiFi all over the place... simply spectacular. You could build a bunch of cool things on this platform.

Second, the software is quite capable. It was easy to install (on Ubuntu, I just had to add their repository and the package). Unfortunately, the latest version of the server software, SqueezeCenter, has not yet been adapted to run on the NSLU2 I purchased for the express purpose, but it is doing okay on my four-year-old laptop. Besides, I might be able to put it directly on my NAS200 soon.

Third, they're working quite actively on the software, and they walk the talk when it comes to full disclosure: the whole stack is open. They not only release all of their code, they give you a real toolchain and support in making changes. Unlike other devices which manufacturers churn out and abandon, they've recently released an update to the remote control firmware that addresses issues with seeking through music lists, making it much more friendly and responsive. The remote control software also builds and runs on desktop Linux, OSX, and even ghetto Windows (a true tour de force) which makes it easy to build and debug your add-in modules (in Lua: how very nerd chic) or your own custom firmware. It also just gives you a nice remote control to run on your laptop. The open source firmware makes it possible for a community of hackers to come up with endless cool applications for all of that tasty overengineering that went into the remote.

But here's the clincher: I had an issue with my album images not showing up. I've been compulsively tagging my music collection and applying album images to make the lists look pretty, but the images weren't showing up properly – even worse, it was sending corrupt images to the browser, throwing the format and making it all look weird. So I started looking at it, and reported the problem on their bugtrack system. One of their engineers fixed it fourteen hours later; I grabbed the in-development build the next day and my issue was fixed. Twenty-four hour turnaround.

That is not only great service, it helps them build and take advantage of a community of expert users. Unlike some companies which persecute people who fix their problems, at least one part of Logitech has it figured out.

BlackBerry support in Ubuntu Gutsy

To charge or backup your BlackBerry device under Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon, there is a nice little GPL package named barry put together by some nice folks in Ontario. It isn't part of the Ubuntu software catalog yet, so here are some steps to get this up and running. (Note: the authors give instructions on how to build it from source – take your pick.)

First, you'll need to install an updated version of libopensync0 (0.22). Add the following lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list:

#opensync
deb http://opensync.gforge.punktart.de/repo/opensync-0.21/ etch main
deb-src http://opensync.gforge.punktart.de/repo/opensync-0.21/ etch main

So, go get that along with some other prerequisites:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libopensync0 libglademm-2.4-1c2a libtar

Then, download and install barry.

wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/barry/libbarry_0.9-1_i386.deb?modtime=1192146928&big_mirror=0"
wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/barry/barry-util_0.9-1_i386.deb?modtime=1192146873&big_mirror=0"
wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/barry/barrybackup-gui_0.9-1_i386.deb?modtime=1192146747&big_mirror=0"
wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/barry/libbarry-dev_0.9-1_i386.deb?modtime=1192146953&big_mirror=0"
wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/barry/libopensync-plugin-barry_0.9-1_i386.deb?modtime=1192147004&big_mirror=0"
sudo dpkg -i libbarry_0.9-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i barry-util_0.9-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i barrybackup-gui_0.9-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i libbarry-dev_0.9-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i libopensync-plugin-barry_0.9-1_i386.deb

Note: you probably don't need the libbarry-dev package unless you plan to develop with this stuff, but I installed it anyhow. Won't hurt anything. The libopensync package should enable some sort of integration with your local copy of Evolution or Thunderbird, but I haven't tried it.

After all you can plug your BlackBerry into the USB port and it will finally charge. These packages don't put any entries in the Gnome menu system, but you can run "barrybackup" which will let you back up all data (and restore, if you want).

Missing the point

Linux increased desktop market share by 119% over the past 12 months – but even so remains at 0.81% of total market share. Some see this as a huge disappointment and evidence that Windows will remain the One Ring.

However, I think a narrow focus on desktop market share is actually quite misleading. New devices with new capabilities are taking over the computing world. 'Most everybody carries a mobile phone, where Symbian and Linux are dominant, and Windows Mobile (which has nothing to do with Vista) has virtually no penetration.

So, if I count the "computers" in my house, there are: 2 linux laptops, two linux desktops, one vista laptop, one symbian mobile, one linux mobile, one linux landline and VOIP phone, one blackberry, one Windows CE and three linux embedded devices. Granted, I am a freak, and that increases the likelihood that I'll have linux devices – nine out of thirteen of them, in my case. But I only chose my OS on four of those nine linux devices, for the other five linux devices there is no alternative. And of course I'm not alone, as the TiVo is a linux device, and the linux-based wrt54g is the most popular router of all time.

Microsoft is innovating with a new category of device, a $10k coffee table. Good for them, it looks very sexy. Unfortunately for Microsoft it also looks dead simple to clone. Where's the new business model to go with it? Being too expensive won't make it exciting for long. Maybe they're hanging their hat on the Zune integration.

Meanwhile, Linux is making its way onto the motherboard (two different ways). Linux and other operating systems are being included in all kinds of new devices. A million iPhones have been sold already, and they run Mac OSX (the same thing that runs on the Mac). People don't think about the OS in these devices, and they don't care. The focus on desktop as the measure of success is so very 20th century.

Developers vote with their feet

Market share of developers working on Microsoft Windows is down twelve percent since last year, from 74% in a 2006 survey to 64.8% in a 2007 survey. Linux jumped 30% from 8.8% to 11.8%. That's a scary trendline for Microsoft and everyone who has their trailer hitched to their semi.

Use of the Ruby language is expected to grow 50% over the next year. Note that almost all Ruby on Rails development will target Linux (as per manufacturer recommendation), and there's no economic reason to run it on Windows. There is virtually no desktop software written in Ruby.

The shift to web-based application development is picking up serious steam. A tiny minority of Windows defectors might target Linux desktop software, but most of them are targeting Linux as a web hosting platform. For example, most people who work at Google target Linux servers and generic browser clients, although the Picasa and Google Earth teams include Windows alongside Mac and Linux in their target platforms.

These developers that are abandoning Microsoft are not switching teams: they're switching games.

No Flash player on amd64 linux

The Adobe Flash player is only available in 32-bit binaries for Linux. Because the Flash player is proprietary, you can't fix this yourself. Although Adobe has released the Flex libraries under the MPL, that doesn't do us much good if we can't actually run anything. There's a petition circulating with over 10k signatures asking Adobe to flip a switch and fix this. No youtube on my living room TV unless I reinstall with a cramped 32-bit OS. Update: turns out you can install a 32-bit version of Firefox and the 32-bit flash player, or use ndispluginwrapper. Either way, it's a pain in the ass. Come on, Adobe, get with the program.

---

Update:

This is now available as flashplugin-nonfree in the universe repository on Ubuntu. It works, too. Thanks Adobe.

Ubuntu on Dell

It's now official: the rumours, buzz, and conjecture were correct, and Dell Computer will be shipping Ubuntu Linux on their machines. This is the cannon-shot, folks.

With official vendor support on the desktop Linux will get the sort of sustained device support it needs to be truly practical. Ubuntu is a great distribution: I've used it now for a year and a half, and it keeps getting better and better. There are a few details about which models. I'm wondering whether they be providing open source drivers (or just keep pushing non-free BLOBs).

For Ubuntu, today feels like 1990 all over again, when Windows was new, exciting, and fresh, and had a future ahead of it. The vendors are lining up behind it: first Sun made Ubuntu the first distro to get all of Java included as a first-class citizen, and now a hardware heavyweight is on board as well. Microsoft must have some friends or allies, but it's hard to see what leverage they have when customers are rebelling at the prospect of moving to Vista, and hardware vendors are once again giving them XP.

Promoting Linux in your workplace

A friend is marshaling arguments to switch his company's infrastructure to open source. One reason he's using is the bad faith built in to the Vista architecture as explained in the now legendary suicide note.

Regardless of those important issues, for me the biggest reason for an enterprise to switch to Linux is to get off the Microsoft treadmill of forced obsolescence, software maintenance, and shifting standards. Ubuntu 6.06 LTS is an excellent example of the sort of model that is attractive to businesses: a platform that enjoys a lifespan at least comparable to that of a houseplant.

I did enjoy the suicide note paper. Adolfo's experience hasn't illustrated any of those issues... well, except that video editing is inexplicably slow and choppy and that might not be a coincidence. Although the Vista Server kernel might be busy checking all of your server traffic for watermarked Hollywood crapware, that'd show up in benchmarks (provided anyone is allowed to publish them).

My switch to Ubuntu

When my brother-in-law asked me about my experiences I realized I needed to write an article (and beat Cory Doctorow to it).

I switched my Dell Latitude D600 to Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) back in December of 2005. I haven't looked back. Although sometimes I run Windows in emulation, that's becoming increasingly rare. Basically, I use free software for almost everything I do, and it feels great.

I'm using Edgy Eft for my work desktop, as I haven't set aside two hours to rebuild it. But I just installed Feisty Fawn on Adolfo's old laptop (amd64) and it is quite nice -- a big upgrade from Edgy in terms of ease-of-setup.

Automatix is the must-have resource for downloading the usual necessities like codecs.

Device drivers can be problematic as some things (like Blackberry) are just a black hole. Digital cameras however almost always just use the standard USB disk driver, so that "just works". iPods work too (even without iTunes). USB scanners that I've tried have just worked as well, as have the webcams I've used. So, no complaints.

The biggest problems are generally with Broadcom wifi chipsets, cheap printers, and ATI video cards. Feisty has built in support for them, but you still have to jump through a couple of hoops at setup, depending on your hardware. Depending on the printer it can be kind of a pain (my HP Laserjet 1000 was just hopeless, and although I got it to work, I finally just gave it away). However, if the printer isn't local it is usually pretty straightforward, as the biggest problem is around firmware. [Man, I hate hardware manufacturers who put the device firmware in the driver.]

Samba is pretty easy these days, though mostly I don't bother (except as a client) -- I have a NAS drive that I use for file sharing, and a network-enabled printer (new colour laser!) -- so if you're setting up a laptop, networking shouldn't be a big deal.

I don't use any virus scanning at all. It does exist, but who cares: I get my stuff either through the official Ubuntu packages (apt-get) or I download source (and the latter very rarely these days). Basically, you just don't worry about viruses or spyware on Linux. The software updates are all centralized in the distribution, are fast, and don't nag you about rebooting. In short, a much better user experience than Windows. But what isn't these days...

A year and a half ago when I first tried it Ubuntu was quite an adventure, but it has now become quite polished. (I flirted with Gentoo for a while, but lost interest in the flexibility. Choices == headaches.)

I have officially stopped providing free Windows support. I thought I was helping friends & family all those years, and it turns out I was just letting Microsoft continue to ship crappy software. Now I have an alternative – and I will help friends run Linux, but not Windows. Microsoft: I quit. Good luck replacing me.

Microsoft targeting its apps for Linux

Believe me, I'll be thrilled when Linux supplants Windows and conquers the desktop... but the enemy of your enemy is not always your friend. The open source commoditization beast ate the database market (digestion takes longer than peristalsis). It's chewing on the operating system.

Guess who's on the plate.

The good news is that the era of market-imposed artificial scarcity of software is coming to an end, and we'll all reap the benefits. The bad news is that Sage's license revenue will disappear along with it. I think that'll take a long time though.

Five years.

So yeah, I love open source and want Linux to win. Never mind that I'm a filthy communist, though - I still like a paycheck, and unless Sage learns to ride the wave and make open source part of its business (like MySQL did), we'll be in Pervasive's position before long.

As will Microsoft.

If you don't think this is cheerful, ask me sometime what I think about information ecology and first contact. When it comes to our relative prospects in a world dominated by open source, call me Pollyanna.

Linux unwelcome in hotels

In three different hotels I've had the same problem using my Ubuntu laptop with the free internet service. I run into an old "reply from unexpected source" error. This is a side effect of how hotels implement redirection to their terms-of-service warning page from any URL. Unfortunately, they're incompetent spoofers. The ISP providing support is GuestDirect, telephone number 1-866-221-6440, and they supply internet service to La Quinta Inns.