<story><title>PfSense Is Closed Source</title><url>https://github.com/rapi3/pfsense-is-closed-source</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>csdreamer7</author><text>&amp;gt; do not contribute to open source projects. Find a copylefted project and contribute to that.&lt;p&gt;GPL software is still open source. The problem is when you contribute to a private company&amp;#x27;s MIT or Apache licensed software.&lt;p&gt;I would change that to:&lt;p&gt;&amp;#x27;do not contribute to permissively licensed projects. Find a copylefted project and contribute to that.&amp;#x27;</text></item><item><author>vinceguidry</author><text>I feel like by this point, in 2021, if you are a developer making contributions to &amp;quot;open source,&amp;quot; and you&amp;#x27;re still getting surprised by these sorts of shenanigans, you only have yourself to blame.&lt;p&gt;This happens So. Freaking. Often. Companies take open source software private All The Damn Time. They hire the key devs away with just enough money. Then they release another version under a different license. And before you know it a previously open source project is now all but closed source.&lt;p&gt;It doesn&amp;#x27;t even have to be with shenanigans this nefarious. Once you have the two or three devs all you have to do is release a value-added component and all but cripple the community one. &lt;i&gt;It&amp;#x27;s roughly a million times cheaper than an acquisition.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you want your hard-earned contributions to avoid this fate, &lt;i&gt;do not contribute to &amp;quot;open source&amp;quot; projects&lt;/i&gt;. Find a copylefted project and contribute to that. Otherwise your work &lt;i&gt;will&lt;/i&gt; end up being coopted by a profit-seeking enterprise.&lt;p&gt;Open source is the domain of large companies building fiefdoms. Just look at all those Apache projects and who contributes to them and who they&amp;#x27;re for. You would have to pay me big bucks to contribute to that ecosystem.&lt;p&gt;GPL or bust.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>SAI_Peregrinus</author><text>Much of the internet makes fun of &amp;quot;choosing beggar&amp;quot; &amp;quot;influencers&amp;quot; who want to pay people with &amp;quot;exposure&amp;quot; instead of money. Permissive licenses are the reverse: they&amp;#x27;re asking others to pay you only in &amp;quot;exposure&amp;quot; instead of money. If expect to gain any return (other than some CV padding and personal satisfaction) due to contributing to permissively licensed projects you&amp;#x27;re a sucker. Permissively licensed software is charity work. It&amp;#x27;s good, useful work in many cases, but it&amp;#x27;s not going to make you money.&lt;p&gt;Give money and time to causes you support. Go contribute to the BSDs. Volunteer at your local animal shelter. But don&amp;#x27;t think that you&amp;#x27;re going to get rich from it. You&amp;#x27;ll save some puppies and help some people (and maybe some megacorps) but that&amp;#x27;s all you can expect.</text></comment>
<story><title>PfSense Is Closed Source</title><url>https://github.com/rapi3/pfsense-is-closed-source</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>csdreamer7</author><text>&amp;gt; do not contribute to open source projects. Find a copylefted project and contribute to that.&lt;p&gt;GPL software is still open source. The problem is when you contribute to a private company&amp;#x27;s MIT or Apache licensed software.&lt;p&gt;I would change that to:&lt;p&gt;&amp;#x27;do not contribute to permissively licensed projects. Find a copylefted project and contribute to that.&amp;#x27;</text></item><item><author>vinceguidry</author><text>I feel like by this point, in 2021, if you are a developer making contributions to &amp;quot;open source,&amp;quot; and you&amp;#x27;re still getting surprised by these sorts of shenanigans, you only have yourself to blame.&lt;p&gt;This happens So. Freaking. Often. Companies take open source software private All The Damn Time. They hire the key devs away with just enough money. Then they release another version under a different license. And before you know it a previously open source project is now all but closed source.&lt;p&gt;It doesn&amp;#x27;t even have to be with shenanigans this nefarious. Once you have the two or three devs all you have to do is release a value-added component and all but cripple the community one. &lt;i&gt;It&amp;#x27;s roughly a million times cheaper than an acquisition.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you want your hard-earned contributions to avoid this fate, &lt;i&gt;do not contribute to &amp;quot;open source&amp;quot; projects&lt;/i&gt;. Find a copylefted project and contribute to that. Otherwise your work &lt;i&gt;will&lt;/i&gt; end up being coopted by a profit-seeking enterprise.&lt;p&gt;Open source is the domain of large companies building fiefdoms. Just look at all those Apache projects and who contributes to them and who they&amp;#x27;re for. You would have to pay me big bucks to contribute to that ecosystem.&lt;p&gt;GPL or bust.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>bosswipe</author><text>The tern Open Source was created to combat the GPL&amp;#x27;s perceived corporate unfriendliness.</text></comment>