Nat interviewed Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz briefly at OSCON. When Nat asked about patents and the CDDL, Schwartz mentioned Sun's promise to allow people who've agreed to the CDDL to use their patented ideas. If I had had the chance to ask Schwartz a question, I would have said:
I'm a free software developer and I've never agreed to the CDDL. Will Sun offer a formal promise not to instigate patent claims against me if I distribute software under another OSI-compatible license?
Choice is nice and choice is good, but if you reserve the right to punish people who don't make the choice you like, do you really respect choice and diversity -- or are you creating your own walled garden, claiming that it's open?
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