WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.240 Welcome back to the deep dive So today we're 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:05.900 focusing on a specific little rectangle on your 00:00:05.900 --> 00:00:09.800 screen a button. I think Pretty much every single 00:00:09.800 --> 00:00:12.759 person listening has clicked a thousand times 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:15.359 Maybe more it is almost muscle memory at this 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:17.199 point. Isn't it? It really is It's that button 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:19.460 that says download and usually right next to 00:00:19.460 --> 00:00:23.260 it. There's that magic word Free we love that 00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:26.179 word. We do we see a tool we need maybe a text 00:00:26.179 --> 00:00:29.120 editor of a video player something we see free 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.719 and we click, it feels like a victory. Like you 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:34.420 beat the system, you got something for nothing. 00:00:34.579 --> 00:00:36.960 It is the ultimate consumer win, or at least 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:38.679 that's how it feels in the moment, that little 00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:40.979 dopamine hit of getting a tool without opening 00:00:40.979 --> 00:00:43.119 your wallet. Right, but that is exactly what 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:45.340 we need to pause today. Because I want to start 00:00:45.340 --> 00:00:48.200 with a question that might ruin that feeling 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:49.979 of victory just a little bit. When we download 00:00:49.979 --> 00:00:52.100 that free software, are we actually just saving 00:00:52.100 --> 00:00:54.859 20 bucks? Or are we stepping into a much more 00:00:54.859 --> 00:00:58.740 complex web of philosophy, law, and digital ownership? 00:00:58.969 --> 00:01:02.030 It is definitely the latter. And I think most 00:01:02.030 --> 00:01:03.549 people don't realize that when they click that 00:01:03.549 --> 00:01:05.930 button, they aren't just receiving a product. 00:01:06.069 --> 00:01:08.109 They are, I mean, they're entering into a legal 00:01:08.109 --> 00:01:10.290 agreement. An agreement that, let's be honest, 00:01:10.430 --> 00:01:13.530 nobody reads. Do you read them? I do, but only 00:01:13.530 --> 00:01:16.829 because it's my job. I mean, normal, healthy 00:01:16.829 --> 00:01:19.329 people do not read the Terms of Service. They 00:01:19.329 --> 00:01:22.459 just scroll to the bottom and hit Accept. Well, 00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:24.159 today we are reading the fine print so you don't 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:27.099 have to. We are diving into a breakdown of open 00:01:27.099 --> 00:01:30.200 source licenses from a brand new article by Gary 00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:32.719 Ackerman over at hackscience .education. And 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:35.920 this just dropped yesterday, January 24, 2026. 00:01:36.019 --> 00:01:38.379 So it's super fresh. It is. And Ackerman does 00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:41.099 a fantastic job of taking what is usually incredibly 00:01:41.099 --> 00:01:44.879 dry, dense legal jargon and stripping it back 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:47.340 to the actual human philosophy underneath. He 00:01:47.340 --> 00:01:49.659 really does. So here's our mission. We aren't 00:01:49.659 --> 00:01:51.819 just going to list acronyms. We want to understand 00:01:51.819 --> 00:01:54.739 the invisible rules that run our world. We want 00:01:54.739 --> 00:01:56.939 to figure out who actually owns the code on your 00:01:56.939 --> 00:01:59.620 computer, how it gets shared, and what freedom 00:01:59.620 --> 00:02:02.819 really means in a digital sense. Because, as 00:02:02.819 --> 00:02:05.560 the article points out, free is a remarkably 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:08.479 complicated word. If you're listening and wondering 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:10.580 why this matters if you aren't a programmer, 00:02:11.259 --> 00:02:14.849 here's the headline. There is a massive fundamental 00:02:14.849 --> 00:02:17.530 difference between software that is free to use 00:02:17.530 --> 00:02:20.750 and software that is free to change. And the 00:02:20.750 --> 00:02:23.129 specific license attached to that code determines 00:02:23.129 --> 00:02:25.430 the future of that software, whether it stays 00:02:25.430 --> 00:02:28.129 open for everyone or whether it gets locked up 00:02:28.129 --> 00:02:30.330 behind a paywall five years from now. That is 00:02:30.330 --> 00:02:31.930 a distinction I don't think I've ever really 00:02:31.930 --> 00:02:33.810 considered. I just look at the price tag. If 00:02:33.810 --> 00:02:37.300 it is zero, it is free. Right. But Ackerman argues 00:02:37.300 --> 00:02:39.520 there are actually two totally different types 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:42.259 of free operating here. He breaks it down into 00:02:42.259 --> 00:02:46.500 cost versus code. Or freeze as in beer versus 00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:48.840 free as in speech. I've heard that one. That's 00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:50.879 the classic saying. So let's start with the beer. 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:53.620 The cost. Because that is the one we all know. 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:56.479 This is the surface level. Free as in zero dollars. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:59.199 You download the software, you don't pay a subscription 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:02.030 fee. And Ackerman notes something interesting 00:03:02.030 --> 00:03:04.969 here. He points out that with true open source 00:03:04.969 --> 00:03:07.629 software, this transaction is often completely 00:03:07.629 --> 00:03:10.409 frictionless. Frictionless how? You often don't 00:03:10.409 --> 00:03:12.590 even have to enter your email or create an account. 00:03:13.030 --> 00:03:15.430 Which is actually rare these days. I feel like 00:03:15.430 --> 00:03:19.110 most free tools online are just traps to get 00:03:19.110 --> 00:03:21.650 my data. Yeah. I have to give them my email, 00:03:21.750 --> 00:03:25.370 my phone number. Exactly. That is free as a marketing 00:03:25.370 --> 00:03:27.389 tactic. You're paying with your data. But in 00:03:27.389 --> 00:03:29.969 the open source world, the free cost is often 00:03:29.969 --> 00:03:33.009 just a byproduct of the philosophy. It is free 00:03:33.009 --> 00:03:35.270 because there is no gatekeepers. OK. So that 00:03:35.270 --> 00:03:37.889 is the money side. But then we get to the second 00:03:37.889 --> 00:03:40.550 definition, which the source argues is the more 00:03:40.550 --> 00:03:44.060 important one. Free as in freedom. Yes. This 00:03:44.060 --> 00:03:46.259 is the core of the open source concept. It means 00:03:46.259 --> 00:03:48.219 the user is free to open up the hood and look 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:50.719 at the engine. You have access to the source 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:52.780 code. I want to make sure we nail this concept 00:03:52.780 --> 00:03:54.819 of source code for the non -coders listening. 00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:58.460 Ackerman calls it the DNA of the program. That 00:03:58.460 --> 00:04:01.620 is the perfect analogy. It's the set of raw instructions 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:03.879 written by humans that tells the computer what 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:06.240 to do. When you use a normal app, you aren't 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:08.919 seeing the code. You are seeing the shiny exterior. 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:11.629 The buttons, the interface. Right. The source 00:04:11.629 --> 00:04:14.150 code is compiled, hidden away. You can't see 00:04:14.150 --> 00:04:16.250 it, and you certainly can't touch it. So if I 00:04:16.250 --> 00:04:18.750 buy a standard piece of software, I'm basically 00:04:18.750 --> 00:04:21.550 buying a car with the hood welded shut. Precisely. 00:04:21.649 --> 00:04:23.930 You can drive it, but you can't fix it. You can't 00:04:23.930 --> 00:04:26.310 see how it works. With open source, they hand 00:04:26.310 --> 00:04:29.050 you the keys, the blueprints, the materials, 00:04:29.170 --> 00:04:30.990 and the right to change them. OK, here's where 00:04:30.990 --> 00:04:33.930 I get a little stuck, though. I can download 00:04:33.930 --> 00:04:37.110 a piece of proprietary software, let's say a 00:04:37.110 --> 00:04:40.240 fancy photo editor, and I can customize it. I 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:43.300 can change the interface, set up hotkeys. Isn't 00:04:43.300 --> 00:04:45.939 that freedom? How is that different? That is 00:04:45.939 --> 00:04:48.180 a really crucial distinction, and Ackerman spends 00:04:48.180 --> 00:04:51.139 some time on this. When you customize that photo 00:04:51.139 --> 00:04:53.259 editor, you are effectively just rearranging 00:04:53.259 --> 00:04:55.019 the furniture in a house someone else built. 00:04:55.100 --> 00:04:57.279 Okay. You can paint the walls, you can move the 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:00.420 sofa, but you cannot move the doors, you cannot 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:02.620 take down a wall, you certainly can't check the 00:05:02.620 --> 00:05:05.220 foundation to see if it is cracked. Because I 00:05:05.220 --> 00:05:07.790 am just the tenant. You are the tenant. You are 00:05:07.790 --> 00:05:09.829 living there subject to the landlord's rules. 00:05:10.610 --> 00:05:13.290 With open source, because you have the DNA, you're 00:05:13.290 --> 00:05:15.290 the architect. If you don't like the way the 00:05:15.290 --> 00:05:17.189 house is built, you can knock it down and rebuild 00:05:17.189 --> 00:05:20.089 it. But play devil's advocate with me here. I 00:05:20.089 --> 00:05:22.750 am not an architect. I don't know how to code. 00:05:23.170 --> 00:05:25.569 So why does that freedom matter to me? Because 00:05:25.569 --> 00:05:28.149 even if you aren't the architect, someone else 00:05:28.149 --> 00:05:31.500 is. If that proprietary software has a bug that 00:05:31.500 --> 00:05:33.519 deletes your files, you have to wait for the 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.399 company to fix it. And hope they do. Right. In 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:38.600 an open source world, anyone in the community 00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:41.040 can find that bug, fix it, and share the fix 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:43.740 with everyone, including you. You benefit from 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:45.779 the freedom of others. That makes sense. It's 00:05:45.779 --> 00:05:48.420 a community safety net. But this brings up a 00:05:48.420 --> 00:05:51.120 massive question about ownership. If I can take 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:53.930 this code and rewrite it, Does that mean nobody 00:05:53.930 --> 00:05:58.009 owns it? Is open source just code that was abandoned 00:05:58.009 --> 00:06:00.250 in the woods? That is probably the number one 00:06:00.250 --> 00:06:02.430 misconception about this whole topic. This idea 00:06:02.430 --> 00:06:06.189 that open source means public domain or no rules. 00:06:06.730 --> 00:06:09.610 Ackerman is very clear. Open source titles do 00:06:09.610 --> 00:06:12.389 have copyrights. So someone still owns it? Absolutely. 00:06:12.889 --> 00:06:15.350 The creators, whether that's an individual or 00:06:15.350 --> 00:06:17.689 a huge foundation, still hold the copyright. 00:06:18.310 --> 00:06:21.009 But here's the twist. In the traditional world, 00:06:21.509 --> 00:06:24.129 Copyright is used to say, stop, you cannot touch 00:06:24.129 --> 00:06:26.529 this. Right. In the open source world, they use 00:06:26.529 --> 00:06:29.170 the copyright license to say, please come in, 00:06:29.610 --> 00:06:32.209 but here are the rules for how you behave while 00:06:32.209 --> 00:06:34.610 you are here. So they aren't waiving ownership. 00:06:34.930 --> 00:06:36.949 They're using their ownership to grant permission. 00:06:37.250 --> 00:06:39.939 Precisely. It is not a free for all. It is a 00:06:39.939 --> 00:06:42.160 free for some things, provided you follow the 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:44.379 rules. And I guess that leads us to the meat 00:06:44.379 --> 00:06:47.199 of this deep dive. Because if there are rules, 00:06:47.300 --> 00:06:50.000 we need to know what they are. And it turns out, 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:52.519 not all rules are created equal. No, they're 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:55.620 not. Ackerman categorizes the licenses into two 00:06:55.620 --> 00:06:57.939 main families, and these families have very different 00:06:57.939 --> 00:07:00.459 philosophies. It is almost like a political divide 00:07:00.459 --> 00:07:03.040 in the coding world. The Hatfields and the McCoys 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:07.000 of software? In a way, yes. Or maybe the idealists 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:09.699 versus the pragmatists. On one side, you have 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:11.680 the copy left licenses. Yeah, on the other. You 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:14.699 have the permissive licenses. Copy left. I assume 00:07:14.699 --> 00:07:17.759 that is a pun. It is a play on copyright, yes, 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:21.379 but it's a pun with a very serious legal weight 00:07:21.379 --> 00:07:24.709 behind it. Think about it this way. Copyright 00:07:24.709 --> 00:07:28.470 restricts the right to copy. CopyLeft uses the 00:07:28.470 --> 00:07:31.870 law to guarantee the right to copy. That is clever. 00:07:32.230 --> 00:07:35.170 So what is the catch? The catch is that it is 00:07:35.170 --> 00:07:37.550 viral. That word usually isn't good when we're 00:07:37.550 --> 00:07:40.189 talking about computers. Right, but in this context 00:07:40.189 --> 00:07:43.149 it just means infectious freedom. The core rule 00:07:43.149 --> 00:07:45.370 of CopyLeft is that the software must remain 00:07:45.370 --> 00:07:48.769 free. If you take a piece of copyleft code and 00:07:48.769 --> 00:07:50.930 you modify it to build something new, what the 00:07:50.930 --> 00:07:54.230 lawyers call a derived work, that new thing must 00:07:54.230 --> 00:07:56.310 also be open source. So I can't take your free 00:07:56.310 --> 00:07:58.790 code, improve it, polish it up, and then sell 00:07:58.790 --> 00:08:00.850 the improved version as my own secret product? 00:08:01.149 --> 00:08:03.649 No. You cannot close the door behind you. If 00:08:03.649 --> 00:08:05.949 you build on a copy left foundation, your house 00:08:05.949 --> 00:08:07.970 must also have its doors open to the public. 00:08:08.310 --> 00:08:10.410 You are forced to share your improvements back 00:08:10.410 --> 00:08:12.689 to the community under the same terms. It forces 00:08:12.689 --> 00:08:15.269 generosity. It says, I gave this to you for free, 00:08:15.329 --> 00:08:17.250 so you have to give your version to the next 00:08:17.250 --> 00:08:20.649 person for free. Exactly. It ensures the ecosystem 00:08:20.649 --> 00:08:24.290 stays open forever. It creates a protected commons. 00:08:24.569 --> 00:08:27.389 Now, contrast that with the second family, the 00:08:27.389 --> 00:08:29.730 permissive licenses. I'm guessing these are the 00:08:29.730 --> 00:08:32.519 cool parents of the software world. Very chill. 00:08:33.059 --> 00:08:35.360 Permissive licenses allow the original software 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:37.679 to be included in works that eventually become 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:40.460 proprietary. Wait, so I can take that code and 00:08:40.460 --> 00:08:42.279 close the door? With the permissive license, 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:45.759 yes. You can take open code, modify it, wrap 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:48.100 it up in a new package, and sell it as a closed 00:08:48.100 --> 00:08:50.779 source product. The original code stays free, 00:08:50.779 --> 00:08:53.379 but your new version doesn't have to be. That 00:08:53.379 --> 00:08:55.440 feels like a massive philosophical difference. 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:57.539 One forces you to share. And the other gives 00:08:57.539 --> 00:09:00.440 you the choice to be selfish. Or, to look at 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:03.019 it more charitably, one protects the community 00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:05.919 and the other enables business. It reduces friction 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:08.559 for companies who want to use the code without 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:11.179 revealing their trade secrets. That is a good 00:09:11.179 --> 00:09:14.080 way to put it. Let's dig into the specific examples 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:16.580 Ackerman gives. Let's start with the strict ones, 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:19.440 the copy left crew. First on the list is the 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:22.879 GPL. The GNU general public license. This is 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:25.399 the heavyweight champion of copyleft. If you 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:27.820 know one license, it's probably this one. And 00:09:27.820 --> 00:09:30.840 this is the one that is strictly viral. Strict. 00:09:31.080 --> 00:09:33.580 The rule here is absolute. Any modified version 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:35.799 of the software must be open source and distributed 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:38.460 under the same license. It ensures the lineage 00:09:38.460 --> 00:09:41.399 of the software stays free forever. You cannot 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:44.019 break the chain. Ackerman mentions a fun fact 00:09:44.019 --> 00:09:48.200 about the acronym GNU itself. Stands for GNU 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:51.200 is not Unix. Yes, a classic recursive acronym 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:54.879 from 1983. Computer scientists love their inside 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:56.820 jokes. It is a bit of a tongue twister. It is, 00:09:56.820 --> 00:09:59.240 but it was actually a protest statement. In the 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:02.539 80s, Unix was the big, expensive proprietary 00:10:02.539 --> 00:10:06.039 operating system. This project was created specifically 00:10:06.039 --> 00:10:09.059 to be the open alternative. So the name literally 00:10:09.059 --> 00:10:11.440 defines itself by what it is not. We are not 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:14.440 the closed system. Exactly. And the GPL license 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:16.679 is the shield that guarantees they never become. 00:10:16.649 --> 00:10:19.090 So the GPL is the strict parent. If you live 00:10:19.090 --> 00:10:21.190 under this roof, you follow these rules. Yay! 00:10:21.330 --> 00:10:23.409 But Ackerman lists another one in the copyleft 00:10:23.409 --> 00:10:25.950 category that seems a little softer. The MPL. 00:10:26.110 --> 00:10:28.889 The Mozilla Public License. Yeah, this one's 00:10:28.889 --> 00:10:31.870 interesting. Ackerman still categorizes it as 00:10:31.870 --> 00:10:34.889 copyleft, but it is often described as a middle 00:10:34.889 --> 00:10:37.570 ground. How does that work? Is it semi -viral? 00:10:38.199 --> 00:10:40.960 Sort of. The GPL is very infectious. If you touch 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:43.919 it, the whole program becomes open. The MPL, 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:45.820 on the other hand, allows for what they call 00:10:45.820 --> 00:10:48.899 combined works. What does that mean in practice? 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:51.820 Give me an analogy. OK. Imagine you are building 00:10:51.820 --> 00:10:55.200 a car. If you use a GPL engine, the whole car 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:57.860 has to be open source. the design of the seats, 00:10:58.100 --> 00:11:00.500 the dashboard, the GPS system, you have to share 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:02.820 the blueprints for all of it. That sounds terrifying 00:11:02.820 --> 00:11:04.779 if I'm a car manufacturer who wants to sell unique 00:11:04.779 --> 00:11:07.600 seats. Exactly. That is why companies are often 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:10.519 scared of the GPL. But with the MPL, it works 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:12.940 more at the component level. If you take the 00:11:12.940 --> 00:11:15.059 MPL engine and modify the engine itself, you 00:11:15.059 --> 00:11:17.759 have to share those engine changes. OK. But you 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:19.919 can bolt that engine into a proprietary car. 00:11:20.259 --> 00:11:22.259 You can keep your design for the seats and the 00:11:22.259 --> 00:11:24.720 dashboard secret as long as the engine code stays 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:27.399 open. I see. So it separates the open ingredients 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:30.419 from the secret sauce you might add on top. Exactly. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.779 It is a pragmatic compromise. It keeps the core 00:11:33.779 --> 00:11:36.620 tool free, but lets companies build business 00:11:36.620 --> 00:11:38.970 models around it. So those are the guardians. 00:11:39.409 --> 00:11:40.750 Now let's look at the other side. The do -what 00:11:40.750 --> 00:11:43.830 -you -want licenses. The permissive ones. The 00:11:43.830 --> 00:11:46.690 source starts with the MIT license. The MIT license 00:11:46.690 --> 00:11:50.070 is incredibly popular right now. It is the ultimate 00:11:50.070 --> 00:11:53.450 no -worrys option. It seems almost too simple 00:11:53.450 --> 00:11:55.389 when I read the summary. What's the rule? The 00:11:55.389 --> 00:11:58.909 rule is basically... You can do almost anything 00:11:58.909 --> 00:12:01.669 with this software. Use it, change it, sell it, 00:12:01.850 --> 00:12:04.049 merge it with your own code. The only catch. 00:12:04.110 --> 00:12:06.389 There's always a catch. A very small one. You 00:12:06.389 --> 00:12:08.950 just have to include the original copyright and 00:12:08.950 --> 00:12:11.450 license notice in your copy. That is it. Just 00:12:11.450 --> 00:12:13.210 keep the name on the label. That's it. It's credit 00:12:13.210 --> 00:12:15.669 where credit is due. But otherwise, have at it. 00:12:15.889 --> 00:12:18.360 I can see why developers love that. It is low 00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:19.960 friction. You don't have to hire a lawyer to 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:21.899 figure it out. It is extremely low friction. 00:12:22.139 --> 00:12:24.500 It encourages widespread adoption because no 00:12:24.500 --> 00:12:27.200 one is afraid of accidental legal entanglements. 00:12:27.419 --> 00:12:30.039 Now, next on the permissive list is the Apache 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:32.840 License 2 .0. This one sounds a bit more formal. 00:12:33.049 --> 00:12:37.289 It is similar to MIT in spirit use, modify, distribute 00:12:37.289 --> 00:12:41.070 freely, but Ackerman highlights a specific unique 00:12:41.070 --> 00:12:43.570 feature of the Apache license that is really 00:12:43.570 --> 00:12:46.289 important for businesses. What is that? It provides 00:12:46.289 --> 00:12:49.350 an express grant of patent rights from the contributors 00:12:49.350 --> 00:12:51.750 to the users. OK, we need to break that down. 00:12:52.129 --> 00:12:53.809 Why do I care about patent rights? I thought 00:12:53.809 --> 00:12:55.370 we were talking about copyright this whole time. 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:58.840 We are, but software is messy. Copyright covers 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:01.500 the written code, the text itself, but patents 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:04.419 can cover the idea or the mechanism. So what's 00:13:04.419 --> 00:13:06.820 the danger? Imagine you build a product using 00:13:06.820 --> 00:13:09.120 open source code. You're happy, your customers 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:12.179 are happy. Then, a year later, one of the original 00:13:12.179 --> 00:13:14.860 contributors to that code sues you. Sues me for 00:13:14.860 --> 00:13:18.149 what? They gave me the code. They claim the software 00:13:18.149 --> 00:13:20.990 infringes on a patent they hold. They say, sure, 00:13:21.070 --> 00:13:22.990 I gave you copyright permission to copy the text 00:13:22.990 --> 00:13:25.149 of the code, but I didn't give you patent permission 00:13:25.149 --> 00:13:28.029 to use the invention inside the code. That sounds 00:13:28.029 --> 00:13:31.049 like a trap. It is a nightmare scenario. A legal 00:13:31.049 --> 00:13:35.000 ambush. The Apache license 2 .0 closes that loophole. 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:37.779 It explicitly says, if I contribute this code, 00:13:38.059 --> 00:13:40.480 I am also giving you a license to use any patents 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:43.299 of mine that this code touches. It is like an 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:45.759 insurance policy built into the license. Exactly. 00:13:46.179 --> 00:13:48.919 If you are a big corporation like Google or Facebook, 00:13:49.139 --> 00:13:51.620 you love the Apache license because it protects 00:13:51.620 --> 00:13:53.879 you from those surprise lawsuits. It makes the 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:55.960 code safe for business. That makes a lot of sense. 00:13:56.340 --> 00:13:58.960 OK, the last one on our list is the BSD license. 00:13:59.259 --> 00:14:01.759 And the source gives us the origin. Berkeley 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:04.500 software distribution from UC Berkeley. A very 00:14:04.500 --> 00:14:07.759 historic origin. The BSD licenses, and there 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:09.860 are a few variants, are generally permissive. 00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:11.740 They come from the academic world, where the 00:14:11.740 --> 00:14:13.919 goal was just to share knowledge. The source 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.419 mentions the three -clause BSD. Right. The three 00:14:16.419 --> 00:14:18.299 -clause is the most common one. And to be honest, 00:14:18.379 --> 00:14:21.259 for the average listener, it is very, very similar 00:14:21.259 --> 00:14:24.700 to the MIT license. You can use, modify, and 00:14:24.700 --> 00:14:27.779 distribute. So if it is so similar to MIT, why 00:14:27.779 --> 00:14:30.340 do we need both? There's a historical difference. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:33.480 and slight legal wording differences, but functionally. 00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:36.620 They both fall into that bucket of, take this 00:14:36.620 --> 00:14:38.779 code and build something cool. We don't mind 00:14:38.779 --> 00:14:40.779 what you do with it. So we've painted this picture 00:14:40.779 --> 00:14:43.379 of the landscape. We've gone from the strict, 00:14:43.740 --> 00:14:46.659 you must share everything of the GPL, to the 00:14:46.659 --> 00:14:50.159 just don't sue us of MIT and BSD. That is the 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:52.399 spectrum. But here's what I'm wondering. We have 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:55.220 talked about what these licenses say. Why should 00:14:55.220 --> 00:14:57.740 the listener, who might just be downloading a 00:14:57.740 --> 00:15:00.840 video player, care which one it is? Does it really 00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:03.059 change their experience? It might not change 00:15:03.059 --> 00:15:05.440 your experience today. I mean, the software works 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:08.460 the same regardless of the license, but it absolutely 00:15:08.460 --> 00:15:10.879 determines the future of that technology. How 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.820 so? Think about it. If you are a developer, choosing 00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:16.379 a license is choosing a philosophy, where you're 00:15:16.379 --> 00:15:18.220 trying to build a protected commons where everyone 00:15:18.220 --> 00:15:21.500 shares. That is the GPL. You are building a public 00:15:21.500 --> 00:15:24.019 park. No one can come in and build a condo on 00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:26.480 it. It belongs to the people forever. Right. 00:15:26.779 --> 00:15:28.860 And the permissive ones. What are they? That 00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:31.580 is providing free lumber. You are saying, here 00:15:31.580 --> 00:15:34.120 is some wood. If you want to build a park bench, 00:15:34.299 --> 00:15:35.820 great. If you want to build a private mansion 00:15:35.820 --> 00:15:37.860 that no one else can enter, that is also fine. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:40.019 And if you're just a user relying on that software? 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:42.700 It affects the longevity of the tools you rely 00:15:42.700 --> 00:15:45.879 on. Is this tool guaranteed to stay free forever 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:49.779 because it is GPL? Or... Could the next version 00:15:49.779 --> 00:15:52.440 be locked behind a paywall because it was permissive 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:54.500 and a company decided to take it private? That 00:15:54.500 --> 00:15:57.240 is a really sobering thought. The software we 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:00.399 rely on today might not be ours in the way we 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:02.799 think it is. And that leads to a bigger question 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:05.519 about where the industry is heading. Because 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.620 Ackerman hints at a trend here. Well, lay it 00:16:07.620 --> 00:16:10.389 on us. What is the trend? If we look at the data, 00:16:10.690 --> 00:16:13.350 permissive licenses like MIT and Apache are becoming 00:16:13.350 --> 00:16:16.309 incredibly popular. They are dominating the new 00:16:16.309 --> 00:16:19.210 projects. And remember, the source explicitly 00:16:19.210 --> 00:16:22.070 says these licenses allow open code to become 00:16:22.070 --> 00:16:25.190 proprietary later. Right. So we're seeing a shift 00:16:25.190 --> 00:16:29.129 away from the strict guardians. We are. So here's 00:16:29.129 --> 00:16:31.379 the provocative thought to leave you with. If 00:16:31.379 --> 00:16:33.860 more and more developers choose permissive licenses, 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:37.419 are we moving toward a future where open source 00:16:37.419 --> 00:16:40.799 is just a free R &D lab for corporations? Wow. 00:16:41.299 --> 00:16:44.580 Explain that. Well, if the code is MIT licensed, 00:16:45.139 --> 00:16:48.039 a giant tech company can take it, improve it, 00:16:48.100 --> 00:16:50.519 lock it down, and sell it. They get the benefit 00:16:50.519 --> 00:16:52.480 of the community's work, but they don't have 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:54.500 to give anything back. So we're just creating 00:16:54.500 --> 00:16:56.779 free building blocks for commercial products. 00:16:56.980 --> 00:16:59.659 Are we transitioning away from a standalone ecosystem 00:16:59.659 --> 00:17:02.419 of shared freedom, which was the original dream 00:17:02.419 --> 00:17:06.779 of the GPL? The GNU is not Unix Dream, and instead 00:17:06.779 --> 00:17:09.299 just building those blocks. That is the question, 00:17:09.420 --> 00:17:11.819 isn't it? Are we building a library for the world, 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:14.279 or are we just doing unpaid internships for big 00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:16.359 tech? That is exactly the tension at the heart 00:17:16.359 --> 00:17:18.640 of open source right now. It is a battle between 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:21.640 the idealism of the early days and the pragmatism 00:17:21.640 --> 00:17:23.599 of the modern tech industry. That is something 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:24.960 I am definitely going to be thinking about the 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:27.160 next time I hit download. It turns out free is 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:29.559 a lot more complex than I thought. Always a pleasure 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:32.200 to explore the code behind the code. And thank 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:34.539 you to you, our listener, for diving deep with 00:17:34.539 --> 00:17:36.640 us today. Check the show notes for the link to 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:38.539 Gary Ackerman's article if you want to read the 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:41.700 full source yourself. Until next time, keep asking 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:42.180 questions.