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Facebook has decided that keeping the React patent grant as-is is in their best interest. I respect their right to do so. At this point, there are two reasons
by rpeden 9y ago
Facebook has decided that keeping the React patent grant as-is is in their best interest. I respect their right to do so.
At this point, there are two reasons for companies and individuals to avoid React: legal reasons, and philosophical ones.
Legally speaking, it's probably true that the patent grant and possible revocation of it is unlikely to impact the majority of companies who might want to use React. But even the potential uncertainty that the patents file introduces could be a decent reason to avoid React, depending on a company's risk tolerance. I'm not a lawyer, though, so don't count on any of that as legal advice.
The philosophical objection to using React is a valid one too, I think. I don't personally find the patent license too objectionable, but I respect the view of those who feel that it's not in keeping with the spirit of open source and/or Free Software. This, too, is a perfectly fine reason to choose something like Vue, or Angular....or Elm, or Ember. Fortunately, there are plenty of pleasant options to choose from when it comes to front end development these days.
- whipoodle 9y agoI also respect the philosophical objection. My issue is with the practical one. I already find the supposed risk dubious, but it is especially weird to me how many people are just now deciding the risk is too great. As far as I can tell the risk has been unchanged since the introduction of the license. I suppose teams could have been using it in the hopes that the license would eventually change, and changing course since it's now clear the license won't change. But even that doesn't add up, because if your company is really trying to be careful about such legal risks, you wouldn't have started using it in the first place.
- rpeden 9y agoI agree with you on the practical side of things. I don't think it makes a lot of sense for companies already using React to drop it in most cases. I was mainly talking about new companies or new projects deciding to use React because of the potential risk. Even if the risk is tiny, it might make sense for risk-averse teams to choose something else, since there are so many good alternatives available. There are also cases where React is the clear-cut best choice from a technical perspective, and in these cases I'd say the benefits almost always outweigh the potential risk.