Comment by registeredcorn
16 hours ago
Is there a reason why more OSS projects don't follow this model? It sounds like you are saying that there are clear advantages here that other OSS projects lack.
16 hours ago
Is there a reason why more OSS projects don't follow this model? It sounds like you are saying that there are clear advantages here that other OSS projects lack.
SQLite is arguably the most widely deployed database in the world. It also has its roots in government/defense contracting so it was built with navigating that kind of red tape in mind.
Most OSS projects simply don’t have that kind of weight or discipline to follow SQLite’s footsteps.
I suspect the government contract roots are what lead to it being placed in the public domain.
It did not have to, they could(and some would argue probably should) have gone the normal copyright with public use license route. But I suspect that because US government code by default is in the public domain(the US government has means other than copyright to protect it's IP) and this code was originally written for a cancelled US government project. That was their default mindset when they wanted to release it.
Note that I am using a sort of editorial they here, I think it was largely the effort of one person.
It is probably telling that with fossil, a supporting project to sqlite, they went the more normal route and released it under copyright with a BSD type license.
I like the idea of public domain(some things belong to us collectively), but it does raise an interesting question if a private individual can place something in the public domain. Are you allowed to give up your rights?
There are business models that work for the extraordinarily popular open source projects (Linux, SQLite, etc.) that don't work for the "well-used piece of infrastructure" projects, even though that category is very important in aggregate
Because at that point it's not a 'project', it is a full business.