In the context of my earlier essays about volunteering and social framing, the question recently arose of who should get paid when an open source project receives donations. The short answer is “people who make it happen but wouldn't get paid otherwise” but the thinking behind that is more complex than you might expect.

This article now forms part of an OSI position.

This article has moved to the OSI Blog.

Graduated to a Meshed Insights article

Of the many attributes of software freedom that could move to front-of-mind, it strikes me that the minimal license compliance burdens for open source software users are actually a comparative strength. Having them presented as a dangerous weakness by commercial interests in various contexts (what has been called “the compliance-industrial complex”) applies a “frame” that serves only the detractors of software freedom. No wonder proprietary vendors want to divert our attention! Open source is so much easier!

Ultimately software freedom is a matter of personal liberty, however it is framed. Whether you describe it as “open source” or “free software”, the goal is for each individual user of software to be self-sovereign in their software and data. Where the privilege of choice is available, this is a matter of consciously choosing liberty, and it is strictly a matter for each individual to make a set of choices — which will necessarily be inter-related.