Open Source is currently under attack via multiple angles, what can we do to ensure that the open source software commons many have built over the years continues to thrive and be sustained?
public good from the very beginning. Like trees or water. The intent of the GPL and early licenses was to protect and grow the commons by encouraging software consumers to also give back. When there were fewer consumers and less money riding on FOSS, this was an effective mechanism to protect the commons. The Software Commons 3
trees, water, animals, or shared software. As the economic incentives to exploit the commons grow, more people will exploit them absent intervention. No way around it. If mitigating self-regulation doesn’t match the growing benefits from exploiting the commons, the commons will disappear. The Software Commons 4
overfishing shared waters, or too many people consume FOSS without contributing back. It’s a key feature of unregulated shared public goods. Up until now, mutual agreement on ‘Open Source’ branding has been an effective self-regulating mechanism to prevent overfishing the software commons. But it’s become too lucrative to lie, so the system is breaking apart. We need stronger protections than best-effort self-enforcement. The Software Commons 5
to environmental preservation, to private benefit. Openwashing and license switching hurts the public software commons by diverting resources and time (technical and financial investment) pledged for developing the commons, to private benefit. The Software Commons 6
could rise beyond $15bn, according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday seeking the repayment of “ill-gotten monies”. The FTC alleges that VW systemically deceived customers over seven years with an advertising campaign promoting “clean diesel” vehicles that were in reality much dirtier than government rules permitted. VW has admitted to equipping up to 11m diesel-powered cars around the world with software that tricked regulators by reducing nitrogen oxide emissions only when pollution tests were under way.” 7 Clean Diesel!
licenses are interpreted as free software and open source licenses by FSF and OSI. However, former OSI president Michael Tiemann considers the phrase "Shared Source" itself to be a marketing term created by Microsoft. He argues that it is "an insurgent term that distracts and dilutes the Open Source message by using similar-sounding terms and offering similar-sounding promises" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_Source_Initiative 15
data set relied on copyleft licenses while 67 per cent of the software favored a permissive open-source license, three percentage points more than in 2018. Rewind to 2012 and copyleft licenses could be found with 59 percent of projects while permissive licenses accompanied just 41 per cent.” 22 A More Permissive Commons
that 3 in 10 organizations suspected or verified breaches stemming from vulnerabilities in open source components — a 55% increase over 2017, and 121% increase since 2014.” 23 Securing the Commons
from industry associations such as the Open Source Initiative (OSI) will stifle open-source innovation and make commercial open source less viable.” 27 Lack of Leadership?
fork Elasticsearch, and we will be making contributions back to the Apache 2.0-licensed Elasticsearch upstream project as we develop add-on enhancements to the base open source software.” https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/opensource/keeping-open-source-open-open-distro-for-elasticsearch/ 29
Before: Open source principally created and driven by individuals ▪ Now: Open source now consumed and created by individuals, corporations, governments and everyone ▪ In open source, stakeholders without representation will inevitably fork ▪ Expand governance to included more stakeholders 42
proprietary □ source available licenses □ unclear licenses ▪ OSI License Proliferation Report but for Source Available? ▪ Not just reports, but active intervention 43
name that closely attributes the source of origin as the OSI. 2. Use certification to communicate and possibly moderate other community norms 3. Like driver’s education, training could be a path to redemption for violators 44
is primarily run by amazing individual volunteers which leads to overwork; they should transition away from volunteerism to a hiring more full time staff ▪ OSI should structure and accelerate initiatives in giving companies and governments a formal voice; could spur more funding 45
indexes work over time… □ HRC Corporate Equality Index ▪ Sustainable certifications… for companies? projects? □ LEED for greener buildings □ B Corporations for social and environmental good 46
~30 years old and popular at large companies and drive change □ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility □ https://sustainability.ups.com/sustainability-reporting/ □ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/privacy ▪ Include open source in Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards: https://www.globalreporting.org/standards 48
less hobbyist and niche business to pervasive across our lives ▪ OSI should accelerate initiatives involving companies ▪ There is no “one solution” just as there isn’t one solution and organization for corporate sustainability or climate change, let’s all work together ▪ Fund OSI: https://opensource.org/donate 49
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