1. Only if they're licensed as such, or we're willing to completely disregard IP (which would be very bad). 2. That's nice, and in some cases successful web so

1. Only if they're licensed as such, or we're willing to completely disregard IP (which would be very bad). 2. That's nice, and in some cases successful web software causes significant contribution to FOSS (many examples from Facebook), but there's nothing preventing the same from client-side software (id Software's engines for instance). 3. I'd say this is also true for many client-side technologies. However, the SaaS model allows developers to take advantage of GPL code without an obligation to contribute back, as the y aren't shipping any derivatives of the code, simply providing network access to it. (Whether that's good or bad is left to the reader.) Many people complain about SaaS for it's strengthened ability to create vendor lock-in, but for non-technical users it's effectively the same. (It doesn't matter of the data's stored on your computer or in a remote database if you don't know how to open it.)