Post #1667523

2024-10-26 06:32 UTC

@AdrianVovk the freedom of FOSS is the freedom to use it for any purpose. I never really liked that, but licenses that would discriminate against certain use cases [like military] are neither compliant to free software definition nor open source definition. For decades that was the mantra.

Replies (3)

@larsmb@mastodon.online 2024-10-26 08:37

@LaF0rge @AdrianVovk That is still the mantra and why they don't censor Palantir, Rheinmetall, Lockheed ... The US and the EU are flexing their weight (not just when it comes to warmonger Russia), and organizations are legally required to comply and won't - can't, really - be publicly discussed. And of course it's, in many ways, hypocritical. (And impacts individuals negatively at least, like all sanctions.) But the OSS world can't escape Conway's Law.

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@AdrianVovk@fosstodon.org 2024-10-26 14:43

@LaF0rge The freedom to use for any purpose is not the same as the freedom to participate in development.

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@szbalint@x0r.be 2024-10-29 06:57

@LaF0rge Where does that freedom come from? Oh yes that’s right: copyright law and licensing. Whereas sanctions enforcement is coming from national security law and even constitutional arrangements. FOSS exists in the world and you do not get to ignore some laws while relying on others to make FOSS work in the first place.

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