Thoughts on a Post-Open Source World
Given at OSI State of the Source Summit.The OSS commons is different from physical commons, in that software is not a limited resource that can be depleted. This distinction led us to reject explicit restrictions on participation and access. But there is in fact a limited resource at stake: Maintainers’ and contributors’ time and energy. A lack of regulation on access has created an unhealthy commons that doesn’t serve the intended purpose. But what would a set of regulations on OSS look like? History has lessons we can learn from.