Re:Open Source Bait and Switch
by kazinator on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @01:04PM
(#32998078)
I suspect most mainstream distros will swiftly drop the code if they get a revocation notice. They are already paranoid.
If the software disappears from mainstream distros and its upstream repo is shut down, with notices that the free license has been revoked and forking isn't permitted, it's only a matter of time before it fizzles away.
If it's something of great interest to individual hobbyists, it might persist for years, but enterprises and institutions will not knowingly want to touch it. (If they really need it, they may seek licensing of the continuing proprietary version, if it exists).
If a security vulnerability is found in the code, it may need expert attention; but the experts will be required to perpetrate copyright infringement in order to fix it; it will have to be done anonymously. Then you need some place to host that and so on.
The proprietary version will have all the fixes and improvements, so that the old once-free version will just recede into the past as a broken old illegal version of a proprietary program, essentially no different from an ancient source code leak.
If the software disappears from mainstream distros and its upstream repo is shut down, with notices that the free license has been revoked and forking isn't permitted, it's only a matter of time before it fizzles away.
If it's something of great interest to individual hobbyists, it might persist for years, but enterprises and institutions will not knowingly want to touch it. (If they really need it, they may seek licensing of the continuing proprietary version, if it exists).
If a security vulnerability is found in the code, it may need expert attention; but the experts will be required to perpetrate copyright infringement in order to fix it; it will have to be done anonymously. Then you need some place to host that and so on.
The proprietary version will have all the fixes and improvements, so that the old once-free version will just recede into the past as a broken old illegal version of a proprietary program, essentially no different from an ancient source code leak.