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FOSS-is-to-surrender-your-monopoly.md (5159B)

    

  1. ---
  2. title: Open source means surrendering your monopoly over commercial exploitation
  3. date: 2021-01-20
  4. ---
  6. Participation in open source requires you to surrender your monopoly over
  7. commercial exploitation. This is a profound point about free and open source
  8. software which seems to be causing a lot of companies to struggle with their
  9. understanding of the philosophy of FOSS, and it's worth addressing on its own.
  10. It has been apparent for some years now that FOSS is eating the software world,
  11. and corporations are trying to figure out their relationship with it. One fact
  12. that you will have to confront in this position is that you cannot monopolize
  13. the commercial potential of free and open source software.
  15. The term "open source" is broadly accepted as being defined by the [Open Source
  16. Definition][0], and its very first requirement is the following:
  18. [0]: https://opensource.org/osd
  20. > [The distribution terms of open-source software] shall not restrict any party
  21. > from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate
  22. > software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The
  23. > license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.
  25. That covers the "OSS" in "FOSS". The "F" refers to "free software", and is
  26. covered by [this Free Software Foundation resource][1]:
  28. [1]: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
  30. > [A program is free software if the program's users have] the freedom to run
  31. > the program as they wish, for any purpose, [... and to ...] redistribute
  32. > copies.
  34. It further clarifies the commercial aspect of this freedom explicitly:
  36. > “Free software” does not mean “noncommercial”. A free program must be
  37. > available for commercial use, commercial development, and commercial
  38. > distribution. [...] Regardless of how you got your copies, you always have the
  39. > freedom to copy and change the software, [and] to sell copies.
  41. This is an essential, non-negotiable requirement of free and open-source
  42. software, and a reality you must face if you want to reap the benefits of the
  43. FOSS ecosystem. *Anyone* can monetize your code. That includes you, and me, all
  44. of your contributors, your competitors, Amazon and Google, and everyone else.
  45. This is a rejection of how intellectual property typically works —
  46. copyright laws exist for the express purpose of creating an artificial monopoly
  47. for your business, and FOSS licenses exist for the express purpose of breaking
  48. it. If you're new to FOSS, it is going to be totally alien to your understanding
  49. of IP ownership.
  51. It's quite common for people other than you to make money from your free and
  52. open source software works. Some will incorporate them into their own products
  53. to sell, some will develop an expertise with it and sell their skills as a
  54. consultant, some will re-package it in an easy-to-use fashion and charge people
  55. for the service. Others might come up with even more creative ways to monetize
  56. the software, like writing books about it. It will create wealth for everyone,
  57. not just the original authors. And if you want it to create wealth for *you*,
  58. you are responsible for figuring out how. Building a business requires more work
  59. than just writing the software.
  61. This makes sense in terms of karmic justice, as it were. One of the most
  62. important advantages of making your software FOSS is that the global community
  63. can contribute improvements back to it. The software becomes more than your
  64. organization can make it alone, both through direct contributions to your code,
  65. and through the community which blossoms around it. If the sum of its value is
  66. no longer entirely accountable to your organization, is it not fair that the
  67. commercial exploitation of that value shouldn't be entirely captured by your
  68. organization, either? This is the deal that you make when you choose FOSS.
  70. There are ways that you can influence how others use your FOSS software, mainly
  71. having to do with making sure that everyone else keeps this same promise. You
  72. cannot stop someone from making money from your software, but you *can* obligate
  73. them to share their improvements with everyone else, which you can incorporate
  74. back into the original product to make it more compelling for everyone. The [GPL
  75. family of licenses][2] is designed for this purpose.[^1]
  77. [2]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/
  78. [^1]: If you want a brief introduction to GPL licenses, I have written [a short guide for SourceHut users](https://man.sr.ht/license.md).
  80. Furthermore, if your business is a consumer of free and open source software,
  81. rather than a producer, you need to be aware that you may be subject to those
  82. obligations. It's not a free lunch: you may be required to return your
  83. improvements to the community. FOSS licenses are important, and you should make
  84. it your business to understand them, both as a user, contributor, and author of
  85. free and open source software.
  87. FOSS is eating the world, and it's a very attractive choice for businesses for a
  88. good reason. This is the reason. It increases wealth for everyone. Capitalism
  89. concerns itself with making monopolies — FOSS instead concerns itself with
  90. the socialized creation of software wealth.