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RMS has an ideal: All software should be free and open. This doesn't work for businesses that need to profit from what they do. Keeping things proprietary, whi
by BFatts 8y ago
RMS has an ideal: All software should be free and open.
This doesn't work for businesses that need to profit from what they do. Keeping things proprietary, while benefiting from source-available software is impossible if a company has to release their source. Competition goes out the window.
So while RMS has a nice ideal, it doesn't generally apply.
- sangnoir 8y ago> " Keeping things proprietary, while benefiting from source-available software is impossible" That's a tragedy of the commons, not something any company is entitled to (BSD-style licenses excepted). Enjoying the benefits of an ecosystem while not contributing to it is not a thing to laud. > So while RMS has a nice ideal, it doesn't generally apply. ...and here we are, with a MongoDB pulling a bait-and-switch on licensing because they want to have their cake and eat it. You shouldn't expect to only get the kudos (and higher adoption rate) that result from your open-source license and not run the risk of someone (possibly a competitor) forking your code. That is the price of admission into the open-source world.
- icebraining 8y agoSure it does. I've worked in multiple growing for-profit companies that released all their software as (A/L)GPL. It might not work with certain business models, but that's alright, others would fill their place.