Log
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The Linux phenomenon — procurement bypass, irreversible dependency, and a sample size of one
Linux didn't win because corporations chose it. A developer downloaded it without asking, and by the time governance noticed, it was too late to remove. That bypass is closed now — but the dependency it created is why Intel, Google, and Meta pay engineers to maintain a project they get for free.
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What open source actually means — and the business model it kills
Open source grants three freedoms — access to source code, right to modify, and right to redistribute. The Open Source Definition has 10 criteria enforcing this, and they deliberately kill the basic business model of selling software. What replaces it is more interesting: contributors who aren't competing for customers can collaborate in ways that commercial rivals never could. But whether that's sustainable is another question.