[License-discuss] Pritunl "open source"

[Radcliffe, Mark]

Thanks for bringing this issue to our attention.  As General Counsel of OSI, I agree with the points made by Rick and John and think that they have addressed your questions.  We will reach out to them to try resolve the issue.

-----Original Message-----
From: License-discuss [mailto:license-discuss-bounces at lists.opensource.org] On Behalf Of Rick Moen
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2018 12:15 AM
To: license-discuss at lists.opensource.org
Subject: Re: [License-discuss] Pritunl "open source"

[EXTERNAL MESSAGE]

Quoting B Galliart (bgallia at gmail.com):

> A couple months ago, I evaluated Pritunl, the "Open Source Enterprise
> Distributed OpenVPN and IPsec Server"
[...]

> (1) What advocacy information does the Open Source Initiative provide which
> indicates it is possible to protect the commercial viability of a product
> when honoring the Open Source Definition?

I am not a spokesman of any kind for OSI, just a member of the open
source community.  Perhaps someone with official status will get around
to contributing to this thread, too.  

However, a quick check on OSI's site found entries on the FAQ that are
helpful, and include pointers to further resources, e.g., 

  Q; How do I make money if anybody can sell my code?

  A: You can sell services based on the code (i.e., sell your time), sell
  warranties and other assurances, sell customization and maintenance
  work, license the trademark, etc. The only kind of profit strategy that
  is incompatible with Open Source is monopoly-based sales, also known as
  "royalties". See this article [link] for how to think about business
  strategies that make money from Open Source. Also, this 2015 survey of
  open source leaders (including many OSI Directors) provides several
  business models for Free and Open Source software [link].

https://opensource.org/faq#profit

> (2) If someone still is not convinced the OSD is right for their product
> but still wants to market their limited license code as Open Source, what
> is the downside in doing so?

Ignominy.  The accurate perception that the claim is fraudulent and
deceptive.


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