Gnome hires open-source law group
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Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
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The Gnome Foundation has retained the services of the Software Freedom Law Center, a nonprofit firm that tackles legal issues involving the open-source and free-software movement. The foundation oversees the GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) graphical user interface that's widely used on Linux computers.
"With proper legal advice, open-source projects can lessen potential legal risks to users, developers and distributors of the software," the foundation said in a statement Tuesday.
The SFLC chairman is Eben Moglen, a Columbia University law professor who also represents the Free Software Foundation.