- cross-posted to:
- opensource@programming.dev
- brainworms@lemm.ee
Drivers passing through San Francisco have a new roadside distraction to consider: billboards calling out businesses that don’t cough up for the open source code that they use.
The signs are the work of the Open Source Pledge – a group that launched earlier this month. It asks businesses that make use of open source code to pledge $2,000 per developer to support projects that develop the code. So far, 25 companies have signed up – but project co-founder Chad Whitacre wants bigger firms to pay their dues, too.
- thingsiplay ( @thingsiplay@beehaw.org ) 36•1 month ago
No one has to pay anyone because its Open Source. Demanding it, calling out after usage is the wrong move. If someone does not want others to use the code without paying, then they need to use a license that does not allow that without a contract.
I’m all for Open Source and not against paying. But this move here seems to be wrong to me. Maybe create an eco system to pay for the software to use it, if that is what bothers you (as the one who writes and maintains the code).
- itsgroundhogdayagain ( @itsgroundhogdayagain@lemmy.ml ) 4•1 month ago
Yeah, it all depends on what agreement was made when they started using the software.
- chebra ( @chebra@mstdn.io ) 1•1 month ago
- GravitySpoiled ( @GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml ) English10•1 month ago
Which licence is open source but demands payment from companies if they use it?
- TheButtonJustSpins ( @TheButtonJustSpins@infosec.pub ) English8•1 month ago
There are licenses that allow for free non-commercial/personal use but paid business use.
- jeinzi ( @jeinzi@discuss.tchncs.de ) 4•1 month ago
Do you have an example? I am pretty sure that a FOSS license which requires companies to pay is impossible.
Open Source guarantees that anyone can give the software to a company for free:
“The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.”
And it guarantees that the company can then use it freely:
“The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business […]”
Quotes from the Open Source Definition.
- TheButtonJustSpins ( @TheButtonJustSpins@infosec.pub ) English3•1 month ago
Sorry, you may be right; I was just thinking of licensing in general.
- jeinzi ( @jeinzi@discuss.tchncs.de ) 5•1 month ago
None. Those things are incompatible with each other.
- TheOubliette ( @TheOubliette@lemmy.ml ) 2•1 month ago
Our feudal patrons are so stingy!