When I built the Qbix Platform[1] my vision was to re-decentralize the social web. Like Wordpress but to disrupt walled gardens of Facebook, Google+, etc.

I envisioned a community of developers freely building apps on this platform and organizations installing them like Wordpress.

Thus I wanted to open source it. But our company was funded by investors and we had big dreams of being the main supplier of our software.

We didn't want to put it out there and have it be immediately forked and taken away from us by Facebook or Google, who would then roll it out to all their users.

I wanted a way to all indie developers be free to develop and contribute to the long tail of apps on this platform. While at the same time not giving a free gift to the giant corporations who I felt could abuse it and take it over, like they have done with so many other things.

I met with Eben Moglen, lawyer for the FSF. The meeting was quite strange. But in the end he answered my main question:

"Use the AGPL. The corporate giants have policies not to touch it with a thirty foot pole."

So that's what the default license is for our platform today.

When our ecosystem is large enough, we may change it. But for now, free software is good. It is why linux runs on toasters. It is why wikipedia has more articles than any private encylopedia. If only medical breakthroughs were developed this way.

1. https://qbix.com/platform