[License-discuss] exploring the attachment between the author and the code

[Josh Berkus]

On 2/28/20 8:15 AM, Gil Yehuda via License-discuss wrote:
>  1. When I use open source code in my solution, I still feel that my
>     solution is mine (even though others wrote some of it).
>  2. When my code is used by others, I don't feel less attached to my
>     code. It still feels mine.
>  3. When an open source community modifies my code, when is it no longer
>     my code (grandfather's ax problem)?

This is the reason we have *projects*.

The coder writes some code, or modifies some code.  She submits her code
or modifications to the project; at that point they become the
*project's* code and no longer her code.  But it doesn't matter because
she is now co-owner of the project, which is both socially and
commercially a more valuable thing.

You're making a classic mistake here, which is thinking of open source
as produced by programmers working on from-scratch projects in
isolation, even though that's rarely the case.  In fact, I'd say that
case is so exceptional that it's not worth talking about.

-- 
Josh Berkus