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Open source is not a just a term with margin for interpretation: to be open source, you must comply with the 10 rules defined by the open source initiative. Res

by pnt12 4y ago

Open source is not a just a term with margin for interpretation: to be open source, you must comply with the 10 rules defined by the open source initiative. Restricting commercial usage goes against rule 6. You can call it readable source or whatever, but it's not open source as defined by OSI. "6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research." https://opensource.org/osd https://opensource.org/osd

insanitybit 4y ago
The reality is that the vast majority of software developers do not consider a strict conformance to the 10 OSI criteria as being necessary to apply the term "open source". Maybe they're all just wrong, but it's worth considering why.
- jimsmart 4y ago
  > the vast majority of software developers do not consider a strict conformance to the 10 OSI criteria as being necessary to apply the term "open source" [citation needed] My counter claim, without citation, is that I actually believe (from experience) that the vast majority of 'open source' projects are in fact released under licenses that already comply with the 10 OSI criteria, and are therefore 'approved' OSI licenses. This is easily witnessed by looking at the licenses of the majority of open source projects — or perhaps even just the most popular ones. That would seem to go against your claim regarding 'most developers'. But it's not actually a debate about 'most developers', it's about the OSS projects out there, not individual devs, no?
  - ted_dunning 4y ago
    Here is a citation for you. 3/4 of the repos on github use MIT, GPL or Apache. Done and won. Most open source projects (in 2015) use real open source licenses. https://github.blog/2015-03-09-open-source-license-usage-on-github-com/ https://github.blog/2015-03-09-open-source-license-usage-on-... https://solutionshub.epam.com/blog/post/examining-open-source-license-usage https://solutionshub.epam.com/blog/post/examining-open-sourc...
    - jimsmart 4y ago
      Indeed... MIT, GPL and Apache are all approved OSI licenses and on the list! [0] — Most well known open source licenses are, of course. Thanks for the citations, appreciated. I was on a mobile device when I made my previous comment, and it would've been fiddly to sort out. [0] https://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical https://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical
counttheforks 4y ago
> Open source is not a just a term with margin for interpretation Yes it is. Who is the open source initiative to define the english language?
rat9988 4y ago
> to be open source, you must comply with the 10 rules The open source initiative didn't not invent this expression. They worked hard to promote their idea of it, and its application. They did a lot of good, but aren't an autorative source when it comes to its definition.
mindcrime 4y ago
Right. The OSD is not a "de jure" (by law) definition, but it is clearly the "de facto" definition of Open Source.

by pnt12 4y ago

insanitybit 4y ago

The reality is that the vast majority of software developers do not consider a strict conformance to the 10 OSI criteria as being necessary to apply the term "open source". Maybe they're all just wrong, but it's worth considering why.

jimsmart 4y ago
> the vast majority of software developers do not consider a strict conformance to the 10 OSI criteria as being necessary to apply the term "open source" [citation needed] My counter claim, without citation, is that I actually believe (from experience) that the vast majority of 'open source' projects are in fact released under licenses that already comply with the 10 OSI criteria, and are therefore 'approved' OSI licenses. This is easily witnessed by looking at the licenses of the majority of open source projects — or perhaps even just the most popular ones. That would seem to go against your claim regarding 'most developers'. But it's not actually a debate about 'most developers', it's about the OSS projects out there, not individual devs, no?
- ted_dunning 4y ago
  Here is a citation for you. 3/4 of the repos on github use MIT, GPL or Apache. Done and won. Most open source projects (in 2015) use real open source licenses. https://github.blog/2015-03-09-open-source-license-usage-on-github-com/ https://github.blog/2015-03-09-open-source-license-usage-on-... https://solutionshub.epam.com/blog/post/examining-open-source-license-usage https://solutionshub.epam.com/blog/post/examining-open-sourc...
  - jimsmart 4y ago
    Indeed... MIT, GPL and Apache are all approved OSI licenses and on the list! [0] — Most well known open source licenses are, of course. Thanks for the citations, appreciated. I was on a mobile device when I made my previous comment, and it would've been fiddly to sort out. [0] https://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical https://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical

counttheforks 4y ago

> Open source is not a just a term with margin for interpretation Yes it is. Who is the open source initiative to define the english language?

rat9988 4y ago

> to be open source, you must comply with the 10 rules The open source initiative didn't not invent this expression. They worked hard to promote their idea of it, and its application. They did a lot of good, but aren't an autorative source when it comes to its definition.

mindcrime 4y ago

Right. The OSD is not a "de jure" (by law) definition, but it is clearly the "de facto" definition of Open Source.