Dan Brown wrote:
> > Mittel is not allowed to hold back the free version way
> > beyond release of their retail version
>
> Actually, this is not correct. Mitel has no obligation
> (beyond their moral obligation to keep their word) to release
> the free version at all. However, they may not prohibit
> others from doing so--that is, once I've bought a copy from
> them, they can't stop me from distributing the GPL'd parts of
> it to anybody I want.
Since Mitel hold the copyright for all the e-smith parts of the system, they could release a new version under a different license. They cannot prevent anyone distributing an earlier version, or any version that others derive from that earlier version, but they are free to apply whatever license they choose on their own software, and could, if they wanted to, prevent others from distributing a newer version.
(At least, that's my understanding - but IANAL).
But that is just in theory: in practice, the new version of server software will be released under exactly the same GPL license as previous versions. And you won't have to wait too much longer for it, I assure you.
As to features, as others have speculated, the most important change has been the addition of ServiceLink. There have been some bug fixes and some internal re-engineering, and most packages are updated to newer versions. The new release is based extensively on RedHat 7.1, with all relevant updates applied. For reasons explained in the FAQ, we are still using a 2.2.x kernel - in this case, the latest available from RedHat - 2.2.19-7.0.8.
The most important new feature is the addition of the "blades" infrastructure, which will allow system updates and contributed packages to be installed directly from the manager, with the click of a couple of buttons. You'll very quickly see the value of this new system.
Please be patient just a little bit longer, and all will be revealed.
Regards
Charlie
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