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> Even if the company is bankrupt, that doesn't mean they don't still have the source code. In general it would be on their computers If often is not. Most or

> Even if the company is bankrupt, that doesn't mean they don't still have the source code. In general it would be on their computers If often is not. Most organizations use source control these days, and SaaS or otherwise third-party hosted offerings are very popular, and those may disappear as soon as bills stop being paid. And most endpoint disks are encrypted by default or by regulatory environment, so the source code on them isn't accessible without any employees present. And the source code of dependencies may be on a computer at a different company, accessible only with credentials of employees who were laid off last week. > It's one of those things where people don't care about something because they don't understand it, not because it doesn't affect them. > People care about things like "I have to buy a new phone for no good reason because the old one stopped getting updates" but if you ask them how that relates to open source they don't know the answer. No, source availability only affects developers and developer-adjacent people. And that's actually a great example. Nobody's auntie is installing LineageOS on their Pixel 1. It doesn't matter that the bootloader is unlocked. It doesn't matter if the OS on it has security vulnerabilities. Only nerds like the people on this forum care about this stuff. Everyone else either doesn't care and uses the old phone as is, or they care enough to go to the store and buy a new phone.

AnthonyMouse 2y ago
> Most organizations use source control these days, and SaaS or otherwise third-party hosted offerings are very popular, and those may disappear as soon as bills stop being paid. Version control systems typically store the code on the server in addition to the local machine, so you only need one. Also, deleting all the source code instead of turning it over to the bankruptcy trustees is typically a big no-no, because it could have value to creditors. > And most endpoint disks are encrypted by default or by regulatory environment, so the source code on them isn't accessible without any employees present. Most enterprises use a central management system that can access any endpoint device registered with the management system. But in general you're just making the argument for requiring source code to be put in escrow. > Nobody's auntie is installing LineageOS on their Pixel 1. It doesn't matter that the bootloader is unlocked. We can see exactly the opposite happening on systems where this isn't the case. Ordinary people install Windows 10 on machines that came with Windows 7 etc., long after the hardware OEM declares them out of support. The OS vendor, rather than the hardware vendor, continues to support the device, once there isn't proprietary firmware/drivers locked to a specific kernel version.

AnthonyMouse 2y ago

> Most organizations use source control these days, and SaaS or otherwise third-party hosted offerings are very popular, and those may disappear as soon as bills stop being paid. Version control systems typically store the code on the server in addition to the local machine, so you only need one. Also, deleting all the source code instead of turning it over to the bankruptcy trustees is typically a big no-no, because it could have value to creditors. > And most endpoint disks are encrypted by default or by regulatory environment, so the source code on them isn't accessible without any employees present. Most enterprises use a central management system that can access any endpoint device registered with the management system. But in general you're just making the argument for requiring source code to be put in escrow. > Nobody's auntie is installing LineageOS on their Pixel 1. It doesn't matter that the bootloader is unlocked. We can see exactly the opposite happening on systems where this isn't the case. Ordinary people install Windows 10 on machines that came with Windows 7 etc., long after the hardware OEM declares them out of support. The OS vendor, rather than the hardware vendor, continues to support the device, once there isn't proprietary firmware/drivers locked to a specific kernel version.