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This essay looks like the business model for free software since Cygnus, thirty years ago - and yet, here we are. I have asked if he has a version that address
by davidgerard 5y ago
This essay looks like the business model for free software since Cygnus, thirty years ago - and yet, here we are.
I have asked if he has a version that addresses the history of these ideas, and how they've worked out - because the history is a very long one.
I would suggest moving away from permissive licenses, which are "just take my stuff." Companies don't even throw in their alterations.
Stallman was 100% right about the importance of software freedom, and strong copyleft. AGPL more of the things. AGPL your latest Rust libraries.
- titoCA321 5y agoCompanies do submit alterations. Whether or not it's adopted into the streams is a different matter. Some don't submit but many do. The real problem isn't contributing to open source. Companies have teams of developers that contribute packages to open source projects as part of their portfolio of duties with the company. The problem is no one wants to work on the day-to-day issues that need maintaining to keep the project afloat. Sure companies will pay to incorporate this feature and that feature and the community will submit this bug-fix on this new widget, but day-to-day maintenance to keep the code base alive is left to bit-rot. It's like the newspaper website for your local town. There are links to and from older stories that lead to broken webpages, but no one wants to update the links yet new content is posted on the newspaper's site each day.