IBM to Help Open-Source Developers

IBM, Red Hat Inc. and Novell Corp., all open-source providers, previously pledged not to assert patent claims against Linux.

Now, IBM hopes to create a "commons" of patents available to the open-source effort, according to James Stallings, the company's vice president of intellectual property and standards.

"We recognize there is a tremendous amount of innovation in open-source, and we want to drive that growth," Stallings said. He said he hoped other companies would join the effort, eventually creating the need for a new organization run by the open-source community that can be the repository for donated patents and solicit new ones.

Stuart Cohen, chief executive of Open Source Development Labs Inc., which employs Linux creator Linus Torvalds, said many of the patents IBM is donating appeared to be significant and would greatly assist development of open-source software.

One patent, Stallings said, makes it easier for systems to identify and link to modules of software in other systems.

Katrin Verclas, head of the NonProfit Open Source Initiative, said the program could be a boon to nonprofit organizations, which often cannot afford proprietary systems or have particular needs that require extensive software customization.

Although it is unclear how companies might respond to the IBM initiative, one major company has already decided on a donation strategy.

Sun Microsystems plans to turn its Solaris operating system into an open-source product, according to Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's president and chief operating officer.