[License-discuss] OSI's purely-neutral policy position on production of proprietary software (was Re: Query on "delayed open source" licensing)

[Stefano Maffulli]

On Sun, Oct 29, 2023 at 7:22 PM Bradley M. Kuhn <bkuhn at ebb.org> wrote:

> Russ, thanks for clarifying this point as one of OSI's leaders.
>

This statement needs a clarification: Russ is a *thought* leader of the
Open Source *movement*. While I find his opinions valuable and appreciated,
as well as his knowledge of history, he's not involved in leading OSI, the
organization.

It's worth reminding that the current leadership of the Open Source
Initiative (OSI) is made of an Executive Director (me) and the board, which
is mostly made of people elected by the community of members (individuals
and other non profits): We lead the organization, convening conversations
within a movement with a wide variety of valuable thinkers.

Various OSI leaders have indicated that they agree that proprietary software
> is harmful over the years, and, as such I had thought there had already
> been
> a position change by OSI from being neutral about proprietary software
> toward a pro-software-rights position that sees proprietary software as
>
fundamentally harmful to society.
>

We agree that it is harmful to society, and that's one of the reasons why
OSI joined the Digital Public Goods Alliance, for example.

Bradley, thanks for sharing your concerns.  We'll continue to fund research
and document our methodology across all our mission-driven program areas.

thanks,
stef
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