4 ms·

"open source" has always been a marketing term. It doesn't mean anything because it's never meant anything. The GNU people fought the good fight on free/libre

"open source" has always been a marketing term. It doesn't mean anything because it's never meant anything. The GNU people fought the good fight on free/libre software, but they lost because companies are greedy and devs are lazy at their day jobs.

bawolff 3y ago
The people who coined the term (OSI) gave a definition when they coined the term. That definition is almost universally accepted in the software world. Redis no longer meets that definition. Just because something is a marketing term doesn't mean its meaningless. You can't sell non free range eggs as "free range" simply because its a marketing term. Etc
- jen20 3y ago
  The term “free range” is almost meaningless when buying eggs - even the opening paragraph of Wikipedia explains this: “Free-range eggs are eggs produced from birds that may be permitted outdoors. The term "free-range" may be used differently depending on the country and the relevant laws, and is not regulated in many areas.” Bad choice of example!
JackSlateur 3y ago
It is far from a marketing term : opensources products can be used without talking to legal departements. For big compagnies, this a game-changer because you can spare yourself months of "work".
- kelnos 3y ago
  > opensources products can be used without talking to legal departements. Pretty much every company I've worked at has wanted legal signoff for use of any open source project. Granted, compliance with that directive was often spotty. But some did have a tool to scan our repositories for dependencies, and flag things that had licenses not on an approved list (which, no, was not the entirety of OSI-approved licenses).
- jen20 3y ago
  AGPL is an “open source” license per OSI - I assure you if you use code licensed under it at many big companies, you might avoid a meeting with legal but will instead get one with HR…
- ForHackernews 3y ago
  > For big compagnies, this a game-changer because you can spare yourself months of "work". I believe I already stipulated that companies are greedy and devs are lazy. I hope you don't consider your comment a counterargument.

bawolff 3y ago

The people who coined the term (OSI) gave a definition when they coined the term. That definition is almost universally accepted in the software world. Redis no longer meets that definition. Just because something is a marketing term doesn't mean its meaningless. You can't sell non free range eggs as "free range" simply because its a marketing term. Etc

jen20 3y ago
The term “free range” is almost meaningless when buying eggs - even the opening paragraph of Wikipedia explains this: “Free-range eggs are eggs produced from birds that may be permitted outdoors. The term "free-range" may be used differently depending on the country and the relevant laws, and is not regulated in many areas.” Bad choice of example!

JackSlateur 3y ago

It is far from a marketing term : opensources products can be used without talking to legal departements. For big compagnies, this a game-changer because you can spare yourself months of "work".

kelnos 3y ago
> opensources products can be used without talking to legal departements. Pretty much every company I've worked at has wanted legal signoff for use of any open source project. Granted, compliance with that directive was often spotty. But some did have a tool to scan our repositories for dependencies, and flag things that had licenses not on an approved list (which, no, was not the entirety of OSI-approved licenses).
jen20 3y ago
AGPL is an “open source” license per OSI - I assure you if you use code licensed under it at many big companies, you might avoid a meeting with legal but will instead get one with HR…
ForHackernews 3y ago
> For big compagnies, this a game-changer because you can spare yourself months of "work". I believe I already stipulated that companies are greedy and devs are lazy. I hope you don't consider your comment a counterargument.