Why did Sun choose the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) over the GNU General Public License (GPL) or other licenses?
Sun chose the Open Source Initiative (OSI) approved CDDL license because it allows greater freedom to the community using the code, fostering more innovation and community involvement. The CDDL provides developers and other licensees with the comfort of an express patent license in addition to a copyright license. Under the CDDL, developers have the freedom to distribute binaries under a different license. Those who add code to the open source project are required to share their modifications with the community so everyone can benefit as code is enhanced and the project evolves. Unlike under the GPL, there is no risk of a viral effect. You can combine code licensed under the CDDL with code licensed under other licensing models (provided the other licenses do not prevent this).
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