The Rails Wheels licencing system and Open Source

[Matthew Flaschen]

Mark James wrote:
> Matthew Flaschen wrote:
> 
>> I define commercial software as software people make money off of,
> 
> In that case, most open-source software is commercial software,
> because developers are usually willing to accept payment to do
> work related to it, and often solicit donations.

Maybe not most on a total lines of code basis, but certainly most when
you look at the software that's actually downloaded.  This is
unsurprising, as people are willing to pay (in whatever way) for the
software they use the most.

>> All of the above also have commercial support available.  No open source
>> project has compulsory support contracts, as you can always get a fork
>> that does not require one.
> 
> So although you can't download Red Hat without purchasing a
> subscription, you can still get the de-branded, binary-compatible
> CentOS for free.

Correct.

Matthew Flaschen