Proposed changes in version three of the GNU general public licence (GPL), which governs the use of open-source code, could split the open-source community, according to experts.

The third discussion draft of the licence was released this week, ahead of a final version due in July. It gives permission to the recent cross-licensing deal between Microsoft and Novell, in which Microsoft said it would indemnify firms purchasing Novell’s Suse Linux Enterprise Server for all its patents.

But the latest version prohibits other Linux providers from doing similar deals, a move that is likely to meet with opposition, according to Doug Levin of software compliance management specialist Black Duck Software.

"The FSF is planning a 60-day comment period, which will be very frothy because there are some incendiary things in the licence," Levin explained. "The open-source community could align with the rest of the Linux distributors if they are so incensed about the document."

Michael Azoff of Butler Group said the new draft was intended to prevent more firms exploiting a loophole in previous versions of the GPL as Microsoft and Novell did. But he added that these changes could inhibit valid agreements between open-source providers and other parties.

"Linux Torvalds himself has said he's not in favour, and there are rumours it could create a split in the Linux community," Azoff added.

Ovum's head of open-source research, Laurent Lachal, maintained that the new draft "strengthens, clarifies and slightly extends version two", and added it will impact ISVs more than open-source customers.

"From an enterprise point of view, managing the licence is part of your business so this is one more risk they need to assess and deal with," Lachal added.