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Hetzner is a cannibal of QEMU,not Google. I do not dispute that Hetzner built that stuff, but in "The Economics of Programming Languages," Evan says that canni

Hetzner is a cannibal of QEMU,not Google. I do not dispute that Hetzner built that stuff, but in "The Economics of Programming Languages," Evan says that cannibals need to build a business too. What they don't need to build is the software they cannibalize. So the original authors have to build the software and a business, while cannibals just build a business. Who is going to win? And your claim that QEMU is a small part of their business discounts the other FOSS code they build on. How much FOSS? I bet it's a lot.

bcrl 3y ago
You appear to be viewing software licensing as a zero sum game. How has Hetzner's use of open source virtualization software harmed the original author of QEMU, Fabrice Bellard? Back in the early days of QEMU, there were bugs. Lots of bugs, as hardware emulation is complicated. By releasing QEMU under the GPL, the project gained lots of users, and some of those users started fixing bugs. Because Fabrice chose to license QEMU under the GPL, users were forced to publish those fixes back to the community. Companies that decided to use and build on QEMU made it better. Parasites only take, while FOSS makes sure that users give back to the original project. Why is it that software developers, like Fabrice Bellard, choose to use FOSS licenses rather than a software available license? Do they receive zero benefit from choosing a FOSS license? No. They receive the benefit of other people using, and then improving the software they originally developed, which in turn feeds back into building a stronger community that supports the software. SAMS has barriers to entry that FOSS does not, and it fails to protect certain developer interests that FOSS licences protect. Those barriers to entry and rights matter to authors of FOSS. Developers who believe in FOSS will never adopt SAMS licenses, because SAMS doesn't protect the rights those authors value in the way that licenses like the GPL do. You're free to use whatever "software available" license you want, but people like me that value what FOSS gives back to us will never come around to your viewpoint because you do not value what we value.
- gavinhoward 3y ago
  They matter to some authors. The rest, like me, just have to go along because SAMS is not widely accepted. The problem is not FOSS. The problem is that FOSS is the only socially acceptable option.

bcrl 3y ago

You appear to be viewing software licensing as a zero sum game. How has Hetzner's use of open source virtualization software harmed the original author of QEMU, Fabrice Bellard? Back in the early days of QEMU, there were bugs. Lots of bugs, as hardware emulation is complicated. By releasing QEMU under the GPL, the project gained lots of users, and some of those users started fixing bugs. Because Fabrice chose to license QEMU under the GPL, users were forced to publish those fixes back to the community. Companies that decided to use and build on QEMU made it better. Parasites only take, while FOSS makes sure that users give back to the original project. Why is it that software developers, like Fabrice Bellard, choose to use FOSS licenses rather than a software available license? Do they receive zero benefit from choosing a FOSS license? No. They receive the benefit of other people using, and then improving the software they originally developed, which in turn feeds back into building a stronger community that supports the software. SAMS has barriers to entry that FOSS does not, and it fails to protect certain developer interests that FOSS licences protect. Those barriers to entry and rights matter to authors of FOSS. Developers who believe in FOSS will never adopt SAMS licenses, because SAMS doesn't protect the rights those authors value in the way that licenses like the GPL do. You're free to use whatever "software available" license you want, but people like me that value what FOSS gives back to us will never come around to your viewpoint because you do not value what we value.

gavinhoward 3y ago
They matter to some authors. The rest, like me, just have to go along because SAMS is not widely accepted. The problem is not FOSS. The problem is that FOSS is the only socially acceptable option.