{"action":"created","issue":{"url":"https://api.github.com/repos/pybee/paying-the-piper/issues/14","labels_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/pybee/paying-the-piper/issues/14/labels{/name}","comments_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/pybee/paying-the-piper/issues/14/comments","events_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/pybee/paying-the-piper/issues/14/events","html_url":"https://github.com/pybee/paying-the-piper/issues/14","id":111631603,"number":14,"title":"A new Open Source license","user":{"login":"freakboy3742","id":37345,"avatar_url":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/37345?v=3","gravatar_id":"","url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742","html_url":"https://github.com/freakboy3742","followers_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/followers","following_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/following{/other_user}","gists_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/gists{/gist_id}","starred_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/starred{/owner}{/repo}","subscriptions_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/subscriptions","organizations_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/orgs","repos_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/repos","events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/events{/privacy}","received_events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/received_events","type":"User","site_admin":false},"labels":[],"state":"open","locked":false,"assignee":null,"milestone":null,"comments":61,"created_at":"2015-10-15T14:40:50Z","updated_at":"2015-12-04T01:01:56Z","closed_at":null,"body":"Open Source licenses focus on user freedoms and developer freedoms, but make no attempt to address the freeloader problem. There's nothing stopping a company from using a piece of open source software, making massive amounts of money because of that software, and then give nothing back to the community that developed the software that had a big part in generating that success.\r\n\r\nThis \"Freeloader\" problem is the flaw that needs to be addressed. If a company can't give back in kind, they can give back in a more meaningful way - by donating money.\r\n\r\nThe GPL and other Free (tm) Software licenses address the issue... by scorching the earth, and forcing all code that touches the released code to also be released. This condition means that the GPL is commercially toxic - even if you consider that assertion to be scaremongering and FUD, the fact remains that there is a *perception* that it is commercially toxic, which is reinforced by the fact that the premise it offers is so fundamentally alien to commercial entities.\r\n\r\nSo - can we address the Freeloader problem by a change in licensing?\r\n\r\nThe FSF lists 4 \"essential freedoms\":\r\n* The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).\r\n* The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1).\r\n* The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).\r\n* The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. \r\n\r\nWould it be viable to come up with a new license that ensures all these freedoms, but also prevents freeloading?\r\n\r\nWould it be possible to reframe licensing terms so that anyone can get the code, use the code, and modify the code, but as soon as it is used to generate revenue/profit, a license fee kicks in? \r\n\r\nRedistributors, like operating system vendors, would obviously be affected by any license change like this. Any license text would need to be careful that it didn't prevent this use case. The analogy here might be reseller arrangements.\r\n\r\nIt's also possible we would see the emergence of competing products - 0$ FOSS and Paid FOSS. It would then be incumbent on the paid FOSS to be better than the 0$ FOSS alternatives.\r\n\r\nMigrating existing projects to a Paid FOSS license would also be a complex process.\r\n"},"comment":{"url":"https://api.github.com/repos/pybee/paying-the-piper/issues/comments/161841479","html_url":"https://github.com/pybee/paying-the-piper/issues/14#issuecomment-161841479","issue_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/pybee/paying-the-piper/issues/14","id":161841479,"user":{"login":"freakboy3742","id":37345,"avatar_url":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/37345?v=3","gravatar_id":"","url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742","html_url":"https://github.com/freakboy3742","followers_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/followers","following_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/following{/other_user}","gists_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/gists{/gist_id}","starred_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/starred{/owner}{/repo}","subscriptions_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/subscriptions","organizations_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/orgs","repos_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/repos","events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/events{/privacy}","received_events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/freakboy3742/received_events","type":"User","site_admin":false},"created_at":"2015-12-04T01:01:56Z","updated_at":"2015-12-04T01:01:56Z","body":"@seiyria Tell me about it. I tweeted that it looked \"interesting\" and was set upon by hardcore FLOSS purists.\r\n\r\n@wolftune Agreed that license proliferation is a problem; ideally, we'd end up with just one new license, that fills the gap that the current options don't cover - that is, the freeloader problem. The catch is whether such a license is possible without setting off the hackles of FLOSS purists - at this point, I'd setting for \"peaceful co-existence\" in the same way GPL and BSD/MIT/Apache do. \r\n\r\n"}}