Open source leechers
Thursday, 16 September 2010Cool title for a blog, and it gives a way our personal opinion on how to deal with open source: Using open source software like Joomla! or Magento gives a lot of freedom, but also some responsibilities - especially for extension developers and implementors. Some people don't follow these unwritten rules and could be called leechers because of that.
The responsibilities when using open source
Well, actually this is a short one: When you are using open source software, most commonly the license under which the software is released (GPL, OSL) doesn't say much about the actual usage of the software: It's there, it's available and unless it's accompanied by some kind of user agreement, you can use it.
The responsibilities when distributing open source
Actually, open source becomes important when it deals with distributing the code (or when changing the code). More or less thanks to the fact that Joomla! and Magento are open source, I can put it on a CD and give it to a friend without the need to deal with complex licensing. If I want to modify the Joomla! core because I see the need for some major improvements, I can. I can even share my changed Joomla! code with others.
The license becomes more important when I would want to sell my Joomla! version. In general, open source doesn't say anything about how you should make money. But it tries to safeguard the aspect of open source. This is where the GPL (Joomla!) and OSL (Magento) differ: With the GPL, I need to distribute my own Joomla! version under the GPL as well. With the OSL, I can distribute my changes under a different license.
The license tells me what my responsibilities are when it comes to distributing open source code - but also when distributing my own software that is based on open source code. With Magento, I can distribute my own extension under a custom license - and perhaps even encrypt it (closed source). But with Joomla!, I need to guarantee the intellectual freedom that shipped with the original software - I need to use the GPL, period.
Making money with open source
Still, the rampage above only tells you how open source licenses work. It doesn't say anything about making money: I can sell an encrypted Magento extension online, but I can also sell a fully open source GPL-ed Joomla! extension online. There is no difference.
But what it does tell is that licenses are there to protect the nature of open source, and for a good reason: The ideology of open source tries to make the world a better place. If you choose to make your money, you also choose for this ideology. And this brings a responsibility.
What can you do?
So what is expected? First of all, when you are making money with a Joomla! or Magento extension, you are also expected to give something back to the community. If you comply to the GPL, you are first of all donating your source code to other developers - which is a good thing. Most likely, customers without programming knowledge will still pay for your extension, but you also help protecting the whole concept of open source.
But there are other things as well: If you make money with Joomla! (by selling Joomla! extensions, but also by building actual Joomla! sites), you are also part of an eco-system, a community that requires help. Sharing your knowledge with others, replying on forum post - if it aids the community, you are dealing with open source in a responsible way.
You can even go one step further: You could donate money to the Joomla! foundation, or heck, if we are talking about improving the world, donate your help or your money to somebody who needs it. If you are using Joomla! to benefit other human beings, it already sounds good.
And if you're not?
Then you're a leecher - an open source leecher. While it sounds not too bad, being an open source leecher could be compared with corrupt officials in Pakistan - putting donation money in their own pockets instead of keeping people from hunger starvation. The comparison is harsh, but the point should be clear: With great software comes great responsibility.