Open source is at a crossroads

The Changelog

This week we’re joined by Steve O’Grady, Principal Analyst & Co-founder at RedMonk. The topic today is the definition of open source, the constant pressure on the true definition of the term, and the seemingly small but vocal minority that aim to protect that definition. In Steve’s post Why Open Source Matters, he says “open source is at a crossroads” and there are some seeking to break the definition of open source to one that is more permissive to their desires, and they are closer than ever to achieving that goal. Today’s conversation goes deep on this subject.

This week we’re joined by Steve O’Grady, Principal Analyst & Co-founder at RedMonk. The topic today is the definition of open source, the constant pressure on the true definition of the term, and the seemingly small but vocal minority that aim to protect that definition. In Steve’s post Why Open Source Matters, he says “open source is at a crossroads” and there are some seeking to break the definition of open source to one that is more permissive to their desires, and they are closer than ever to achieving that goal. Today’s conversation goes deep on this subject.

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Featuring:

Show Notes:

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!

Timestamps:

(00:00) - This week on The Changelog
(01:05) - Sponsor: Convex
(04:24) - Start the show!
(07:29) - Recent events for context
(09:04) - Do developers even care?
(16:39) - JSHint project as evidence
(21:22) - The advantage of being "open soure"
(26:19) - The good will aspect
(30:41) - "Truly good coffee" as an analogy
(34:37) - Sponsor: Statsig
(38:06) - The open source definition needs to change
(43:00) - Help us AWS, don't hurt us
(49:01) - Microsoft's good will
(50:48) - AI licensing
(54:46) - Are devs becoming the minority?
(56:51) - Output is copyrighted?
(58:00) - 30% of my code is AI generated
(1:00:03) - Microsoft will indemnify Copilot users
(1:03:38) - Sponsor: Changelog News
(1:05:25) - Steve on predicting the future
(1:08:34) - The OSI maintains the definition
(1:14:27) - How to NOT bait and switch
(1:17:28) - How does Redmonk maintain credibility?
(1:22:13) - Wrapping up
(1:23:56) - Outro

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