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> I think open source will always have a place for libraries and tools, but end user applications will either become open core or no longer open source. Very s

by the_af 5y ago

> I think open source will always have a place for libraries and tools, but end user applications will either become open core or no longer open source. Very sad if this ever comes to pass. It's a world in which I would never have learned about computers or decided to work with them. I think it makes more sense to charge big companies but keep software free and libre for individuals. (I don't think this future will happen though: I think it's based on a deep misunderstanding of what drives FOSS developers to do what they do).

laurent92 5y ago
Shouldn’t Open Source be considered the 8th wonder of the world? - OSS allowed an entire industry to flourish, - It has had so many contributions that it is easily the category which is the biggest benevolence of the world, and possibly the biggest achievement of humanity, - It allowed the entire world to go securely on the internet (launch a Debian and it’s secure and up to very high professional standards without effort, try doing that in the legal field), - Its results are permanent. In 2100, documents written in Office 365 or Adobe will be lost, but they’ll be able to recompile LibreOffice, Chrome (at least Webkit) or Wordpress. Benefits of OSS accrue over time, as opposed to closed-source software which is sold under closed license and DRM.
- selfhoster11 5y ago
  > Its results are permanent. In 2100, documents written in Office 365 or Adobe will be lost, but they’ll be able to recompile LibreOffice, Chrome (at least Webkit) or Wordpress. Benefits of OSS accrue over time, as opposed to closed-source software which is sold under closed license and DRM. In practice, I think that only entirely cloud based ecosystems will be lost to time. As long as the requisite hardware can be emulated and there is an archived version of a local viewer, it's possible to interpret a closed source format document. People already do it with WordStar and retro games.
prirun 5y ago
> I think it makes more sense to charge big companies but keep software free and libre for individuals. I agree, but how do you distinguish between the two, and how do you make the source available yet compel large companies to pay?

by the_af 5y ago

laurent92 5y ago

Shouldn’t Open Source be considered the 8th wonder of the world? - OSS allowed an entire industry to flourish, - It has had so many contributions that it is easily the category which is the biggest benevolence of the world, and possibly the biggest achievement of humanity, - It allowed the entire world to go securely on the internet (launch a Debian and it’s secure and up to very high professional standards without effort, try doing that in the legal field), - Its results are permanent. In 2100, documents written in Office 365 or Adobe will be lost, but they’ll be able to recompile LibreOffice, Chrome (at least Webkit) or Wordpress. Benefits of OSS accrue over time, as opposed to closed-source software which is sold under closed license and DRM.

selfhoster11 5y ago
> Its results are permanent. In 2100, documents written in Office 365 or Adobe will be lost, but they’ll be able to recompile LibreOffice, Chrome (at least Webkit) or Wordpress. Benefits of OSS accrue over time, as opposed to closed-source software which is sold under closed license and DRM. In practice, I think that only entirely cloud based ecosystems will be lost to time. As long as the requisite hardware can be emulated and there is an archived version of a local viewer, it's possible to interpret a closed source format document. People already do it with WordStar and retro games.

prirun 5y ago

> I think it makes more sense to charge big companies but keep software free and libre for individuals. I agree, but how do you distinguish between the two, and how do you make the source available yet compel large companies to pay?