<html><p>Dear OSI License Review Board,</p><p>I am writing to formally withdraw the Barrer Free Software License (formerly BOSL) from consideration for OSI approval.</p><p>After careful consideration and feedback from the community, we have decided to pursue an independent licensing path that better serves our philosophy and user base.</p><p>**Why we're withdrawing:**</p><p>The current Open Source Definition, established in 1998, does not accommodate modern developer needs around sustainable software development. We are the third organization this year to submit a license with non-commercial restrictions, which clearly indicates market demand for this model.</p><p>Rather than attempt to fit our license into a 27-year-old framework, we are establishing our own standard:</p><p>- **Barrer Free Software License (BFSL) v1.2**<br>- Source-available, community-focused licensing<br>- Protects free software from commercial exploitation<br>- Allows all freedoms EXCEPT selling the software itself<br>- Service-based revenue model (like Red Hat) explicitly permitted</p><p>**Our position:**</p><p>We respect OSI's historical role in defining "Open Source," but we no longer seek that designation. The term has become genericized in common usage, and we believe developers deserve licensing options beyond the binary choice of "permissive" or "copyleft."</p><p>BFSL serves projects built on public specifications and community resources that should remain free. This is not a rejection of open collaboration\u2014it's a different path to the same goal: accessible, modifiable software for everyone.</p><p>**Moving forward:**</p><p>- We've renamed the license to avoid OSI trademark confusion<br>- All BarrerSoftware projects now use BFSL v1.2<br>- We will continue to contribute to the open software ecosystem<br>- We will not claim OSI "Open Source" certification</p><p>We appreciate the time OSI reviewers have spent on this submission. Your feedback helped us clarify our position and strengthen our resolve to create licensing that works for modern developers.</p><p>This withdrawal is effective immediately. Please remove BOSL/BFSL from your review queue.</p><p>Best regards,</p><p>Daniel Frey <br>Founder, BarrerSoftware <br>Email: daniel@barrersoftware.com <br>Website: https://barrersoftware.com <br>License: https://barrersoftware.com/foss-license.html </p><p>---</p><p>P.S. - To the OSI board: The world has changed since 1998. Maybe it's time your definitions evolved too. When three organizations in one year are trying to do the same thing, that's not a bug in our licenses\u2014it's a feature request for your process.</p><p>\U0001f3f4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f BarrerSoftware - Building bridges, not walls</p></html>