I believe everyone should be able to audit & change the software they run, or hire someone else to do so.
That does not mean I don't believe in paying devs (paywalls, especially softpaywalls, seems like the best way).
And it does not mean I believe all software must be public for all to use, feel free to keep code for internal use or share your code only with your customers.
@alcinnz
Something that people don't seem to realize is that you can 1) sell FOSS software at all; and 2) even the strongest copyleft licenses don't make you release your code publicly, all they require is that you make the code accessible to the users of your software and that you can't prohibit them from redistributing the code you gave them if they chose.
@sneak @nytpu A big part of the reason why we can't practically sell FOSS is simply the attitude that we can't or shouldn't sell FOSS. The entitlement many feel to our free labour, which leaves both sides unsatisfied.
Certainly for off-the-shelf software (only kind most are aware of) it does make for more of a challenge that the easiest way to fulfill your software freedom obligations is to publish the source code gratis... Which is the only way many accept...
@sneak @nytpu Also: its not uncommon for organizations to pay for freely-licensed software to be developed, whether or not they make that code public. As long as all end-users who want the sourcecode gets it, I have no problem with this. It is fully inline with The Four Freedoms.
Thats one not uncommon way to get compensated, though unfortunately corporate customers can afford it...
