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Obviously I agree that current licenses do permit this. However: What are the long-term implications if everyone behaves this way? They are that less open sour

Obviously I agree that current licenses do permit this. However: What are the long-term implications if everyone behaves this way? They are that less open source software will be created and made available to everyone with permissive licensing. More software will be produced either commercially, or with more restrictive licensing. Less software will be produced overall, because of the overhead costs of enforcing these restrictions. The culture will shift from a norm of "Here, use this thing I made if you want!" towards "You'd better not be using this thing I made without paying me." This formalisation of norms into explicit contracts backed by legal enforcement would not necessarily be a bad thing overall, and it may be a necessary thing in a "society" where there are too many people for everyone to know everyone else personally and establish trust that way. But it will be different. There will be winners and losers.

twelve40 2y ago
Everyone does behave this way. For any popular open-source project (e.g., Linux), the absolute vast majority does not contribute, just uses or makes money off of it. How can you shame someone into starting to contribute? There are people who like to contribute, there are other people who like to make a quick buck using someone else's work, and nothing else, and always will be. Unclear how to magically change the latter if the legal means fail.
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skywhopper 2y ago
This is silly. Open source doesn't require getting paid. In fact, that people have figured out how to make open source turn them into billionaires is a problem. And a good sign that the market is broken. Get those people out of open source. Linux, Kubernetes, Apache, Python, and more are doing just fine. Companies should find ways to build things together rather than trying to abuse open source to pay off VCs who are the real takers in the software industry.

twelve40 2y ago

Everyone does behave this way. For any popular open-source project (e.g., Linux), the absolute vast majority does not contribute, just uses or makes money off of it. How can you shame someone into starting to contribute? There are people who like to contribute, there are other people who like to make a quick buck using someone else's work, and nothing else, and always will be. Unclear how to magically change the latter if the legal means fail.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

skywhopper 2y ago

This is silly. Open source doesn't require getting paid. In fact, that people have figured out how to make open source turn them into billionaires is a problem. And a good sign that the market is broken. Get those people out of open source. Linux, Kubernetes, Apache, Python, and more are doing just fine. Companies should find ways to build things together rather than trying to abuse open source to pay off VCs who are the real takers in the software industry.