The State of Python

[Guido van Rossum]

Paul Duffin <pduffin at hursley.ibm.com> writes:

> That sounds absolutely horrendous. Tcl is also going through some major 
> changes in its development process to make it more Open Source but it is 
> nowhere near as painful as what seems to be happening to Python. I hope
> that you get it resolved as quickly as possible.

Actually, Tcl is struggling with the development process.  Python's
development process is already where Tcl wants to go, and that's not
in danger.

> Who will hold the license on Python 2.0 ? 
> 
> Is it going to be BeOpen ?
> 
> Could the license be held by the community in some way to prevent this
> sort of legal wrangling in future ?
> 
> How about having a concept of stewardship, i.e. BeOpen is the current
> steward of Python on behalf of the community. 
> 
> By Python I mean all Python related resources that BeOpen manage, so 
> this would include all information on the web site, the domain name, etc. 
> 
> If BeOpen could no longer support Python for whatever reason then those 
> resources would be turned over to the community and they could then look 
> for a new steward for Python.
> 
> The community would also have the option to choose a new steward for 
> Python if they felt that BeOpen was not supporting Python properly or
> someone else could support it better.
> 
> This would have to be a legal contract so for instance if BeOpen was
> taken over, or went bankrupt Python could not be sold off to the highest
> bidder.
> 
> The biggest problem with this is determining what the will of the 
> community is.

I an committed to represent the community in these matters to BeOpen.
I hope that you continue to trust me to represent the community in
these matters!

I am (with Tim Peters's much appreciated help, actually!)  working on
the creation of a legally binding agreement with BeOpen that ensures
Python's status as Open Source software.  We've already hired an
open-source-friendly law firm to help us with this.  An important part
of this agreement will be to ensure that the right thing happens upon
takeover, bankruptcy or any other Big Event in the life of a
corporation, and also to ensure that I and my colleagues at PythonLabs
will be able to continue to work on Python even if we quit or lose our
BeOpen jobs.

Let me know if you have specific concerns!

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.pythonlabs.com/~guido/)