Skip to Content
Last modified by chrisby on 2025/01/11 10:03
From version 2.63
edited by chrisby
on 2025/01/01 11:48
Change comment: There is no comment for this version
To version 2.64
edited by chrisby
on 2025/01/01 11:50
Change comment: There is no comment for this version

Summary

Details

Page properties
Content
... ... @@ -45,9 +45,12 @@
45 45  * Another problem is that vendors can reuse permissive code without any obligation to share improvements. The vendor writes new proprietary or closed source code based on the open source code and keeps those improvements for himself. This means that the work of the open source community can be used for the vendor's financial benefit without anything being given back. Worse, the proprietary product may outcompete the original open source project, reducing its impact and harming the open source ecosystem. This is called "proprietary capture" or "open core hijacking".
46 46  * There is also the problem of fragmentation. Multiple vendors may each create their own proprietary product based on the same permissive code. Instead of collaborating and contributing back to the common core project, they are inefficiently duplicating their efforts.
47 47  
48 -**Copyleft Licenses**To address the problems with proprietary software, the FSF primarily promotes copyleft licenses, which require that any derivative works of the software be licensed under the same terms as the original code. The term "derivative work" is legally vague, but a common understanding is that it means a new work based on the original copyleft code that incorporates it at the source level. This ensures that when contributions are made to a copyleft project, or when copyleft code is reused in another project, the resulting work must also be released under the same copyleft license. This prevents ve
49 -ndors from incorporating copyleft code into proprietary products, and ensures that any derivative works remain open source. In addition, copyleft licenses require that the source code be made available to users so that they can modify, build, and control the software themselves.**OSI Position**
48 +**Copyleft Licenses**
50 50  
50 +To address the problems with proprietary software, the FSF primarily promotes copyleft licenses, which require that any derivative works of the software be licensed under the same terms as the original code. The term "derivative work" is legally vague, but a common understanding is that it means a new work based on the original copyleft code that incorporates it at the source level. This ensures that when contributions are made to a copyleft project, or when copyleft code is directly reused in another project, the resulting work must be released under the same copyleft license. This prevents vendors from incorporating copyleft code into proprietary products, and ensures that any derivative works remain open source. In addition, copyleft licenses require that the source code be made available to users so that they can modify, build, and control the software themselves.
51 +
52 +**OSI Position**
53 +
51 51  The OSI aims to maximize the contributions and impact of open source by being open to a variety of open source licenses. Permissive licenses have become very popular in recent years, especially in commercial contexts, but open source developers also choose copyleft licenses when they want to ensure that derivative works remain open and free.
52 52  
53 53  **User Behavior**