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This makes the usual false dichotomy between 'users' and 'developers' and positions GPL advocates as freedom fighters. Also as usual, there is no mention of ho
by gress 11y ago
This makes the usual false dichotomy between 'users' and 'developers' and positions GPL advocates as freedom fighters.
Also as usual, there is no mention of how a GPL based economy can work. The reason the GPL is not loved by developers as much as the freedom fighters would like is because we need to earn a living. If GPL advocates can address that, they would be able to stop wasting time with these rants.
- icebraining 11y agoHi! I, along with many other software developers, make a living out of developing GPL-licensed software. We build on top of an AGPL licensed platform (Odoo) and we offer both custom development and a SaaS hosting platform - and various services around those. We're not the next Microsoft, but we sell to some of the largest companies in our country (and many smaller ones), and make a comfortable living out of it. Proprietary licensing certainly makes it easier to build a moat, but it's certainly not required, there are alternative business models.
- pknight 11y agoYou seem to be persisting the myth that developers aren't able to make a living under GPL. In the WordPress ecosystem virtually all products are GPL compatible and the economy is worth millions and millions. Developers are doing just fine under it, more than fine actually. I'd like to hear a single case where GPL licensing made a negative difference between financial success and failure (maybe they exist, but examples are never brought up, funnily).
- gress 11y agoYou seem to be perpetuating the fallacy that because some software developers can make a living under GPL, all software developers can do so. Perhaps the market has already chosen the correct balance of GPL vs permissive licenses.
- pknight 11y agoI'm not perpetuating this supposed fallacy. Software developers fail with their products for various different reasons, there just seems to be very little evidence that the choice of GPL has impacted economic viability. At least I can say that there is very little evidence of that in the WordPress ecosystem. If you complain about the lack of an example of how a GPL based economy can work, you simply ignore existing markets. The WordPress ecosystem (worth billions) is almost exclusively GPL and developers are succeeding with successful products and services, operating businesses in all kinds of revenue ranges. Many small teams and even solo developers are regularly netting 6-7 figures a year. They are doing so utilizing a variety of business models, proving that almost any kind of solution can be made to work in some format, provided it's something people will pay for. There has always been some push back for the GPL, especially by designers, in the WordPress space. Despite that things are working. We have an entire commercial themes market that is selling GPL based themes, with many successful authors raking in money. Some people thought it was crazy, but theme sales are sky high. The only reason some developers aren't making money there isn't because GPL, it's because the competition is strong and the work is hard and some people can't or won't adapt.