Systems Architecture 6th Edition by Stephen Burd

Exercise 3

Investigate the Free Software Foundation and the terms of its licenses the GNU General Public License (GPL) in particular. What are the provisions of this license, and what is "copy left" ? Identify at least three current software packages, such as programming or application development tools, OSs, or DBMSs, distributed under the GPL s terms. Identify at least two large companies that incorporate these technologies into their own products and services sold for profit. What are the economic motivations for these companies to build their products and services around free software?