this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2023
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Let's say that your app is built upon open source software that was not coded by you, but by other people. Like: 10% of the code of your app was coded by you, 90% by other people (let's call them generically "third parties"). And that those third parties released their code as open source, under the following condition: "you can only use our code in your software if your software is also open source".
And let's also say that you've been living mostly not from selling your app, but from support. But that is never enough, isn't it? You decide to charge for the app, and to get rid of the competition.
What would you do?
Red Hat picked #4. Or potentially #3 because "we'll stop doing businesses with you if you do what the license explicitly allows you to do" might be potentially also considered a violation of the letter of the license, not just the spirit.
It is not just a framework. Open source means that you're delivering software made with someone else's code too, not just using it to build your source.
And they consented to allow you to distribute it under specific conditions, that now Red Hat is violating at least in spirit, if not in letter too.