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I agree with your premise though I think we need a different word than "open source" if that's really the model moving forward. Without going too deep into sem

I agree with your premise though I think we need a different word than "open source" if that's really the model moving forward. Without going too deep into semantics, the original nature of open source is counter to business interests. If we're using that term for source code that's kinda open for some people some of the time, we risk virtue signalling.

maccard 2y ago
That's a completely fair response I think, but I'd argue that language evolves, and meaning changes. Words and phrases we use now mean totally different things to what they meant 10-15 years ago, and that meaning is driven by common understanding. Using the original intentions for Open Source is well and good, but do you think Richard Stallman foresaw IBM being the primary funding mechanism for GCC in 1989?
- jtwoodhouse 2y ago
  I think that underscores the tension that will always exist with open source. It's nearly impossible for altruism to remain self-sustaining. The rare glimpses when it exists should be cherished rather than conflated with the small business David vs. Goliath complex.
  - maccard 2y ago
    I think that world still exists. We're on HN, so there's always going to be a business/startup bias in what we talk about and share here. And doubly so if someone develops a product as open source with a commercial offering to support it from the get go. Off the top of my head, Imgui[0] is an example of an open source project, widely used, developed by a small group with a main contributor. AssetCooker [1] is a project that I discovered recently which is clearly a passion project from a single developer who shared it with the world. CNCF [2] is an odd one, but in my mind it's a 21st century Apache foundation - they have a bunch of core projects which are complete open source projects, used widely in production and sustained through different models. I think imgui (of the bunch) is probably closest to the GCC-of-the-early-90's idea. [0] https://github.com/ocornut/imgui https://github.com/ocornut/imgui [1] https://github.com/jlaumon/AssetCooker https://github.com/jlaumon/AssetCooker [2] https://www.cncf.io/projects/ https://www.cncf.io/projects/

maccard 2y ago

That's a completely fair response I think, but I'd argue that language evolves, and meaning changes. Words and phrases we use now mean totally different things to what they meant 10-15 years ago, and that meaning is driven by common understanding. Using the original intentions for Open Source is well and good, but do you think Richard Stallman foresaw IBM being the primary funding mechanism for GCC in 1989?

jtwoodhouse 2y ago
I think that underscores the tension that will always exist with open source. It's nearly impossible for altruism to remain self-sustaining. The rare glimpses when it exists should be cherished rather than conflated with the small business David vs. Goliath complex.
- maccard 2y ago
  I think that world still exists. We're on HN, so there's always going to be a business/startup bias in what we talk about and share here. And doubly so if someone develops a product as open source with a commercial offering to support it from the get go. Off the top of my head, Imgui[0] is an example of an open source project, widely used, developed by a small group with a main contributor. AssetCooker [1] is a project that I discovered recently which is clearly a passion project from a single developer who shared it with the world. CNCF [2] is an odd one, but in my mind it's a 21st century Apache foundation - they have a bunch of core projects which are complete open source projects, used widely in production and sustained through different models. I think imgui (of the bunch) is probably closest to the GCC-of-the-early-90's idea. [0] https://github.com/ocornut/imgui https://github.com/ocornut/imgui [1] https://github.com/jlaumon/AssetCooker https://github.com/jlaumon/AssetCooker [2] https://www.cncf.io/projects/ https://www.cncf.io/projects/