Comment by candiddevmike

3 years ago

There needs to be a phrase like "play open source games, win open source prizes" for companies that get all upset when someone else monetizes their product.

4 comments

candiddevmike

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jzb  3 years ago

I think it depends a lot on whether they’re upset because they failed to license the software in a way that would prevent behavior they don’t like, or because someone doesn’t seem to be complying with the license in the first place.

If you chose a permissive license and then are shocked when people actually take advantage of that, you kind of deserve what you get. If you chose a reciprocal license and someone just ignores it, then I think you still have a license to complain. Pun kind of intended.

  • candiddevmike  3 years ago

    I personally don't care for any open source sob stories by companies that use open source as a growth strategy. When you open source something, you will need pay the legal costs to enforce your license, the license doesn't enforce itself. It will most likely be a long drawn out process and will be a drain on your resources, especially technical ones. Don't complain when this happens, nobody forced you to open source your stuff to begin with.

    • jzb  3 years ago

      This is a curious attitude. No, the license doesn’t enforce itself. But usually when someone violates copyright companies tend to complain about it. Often that complaint is accompanied by a lawsuit, but I’ve heard a lot of complaints out of the entertainment industry the past 20 some years about copyright infringement, and I haven’t heard anybody talking about not complaining because they released things and should just assume somebody is going to infringe.

      Nobody forces me to choose an open source license. Nobody forces me to use code that is open sourced either. So it’s a curious attitude to take issue with a company that providing software under an open source license as a bad guy for complaining when people don’t follow their license but not the entity that is violating the license that gives them the right to use software in the first place.

    • kadoban  3 years ago

      Is anyone complaining? Seems like they're just doing what you suggest, enforcing the license.

      (ignoring that they may be wrong about the breaches of the license, I'm sure the lawyers will work that out)