The open source horses are galloping through the organizational arroyo. You can steal a horse when it is branded. You can capture a wild horse in Altai Mountains of Mongolia. Now the question of ownership of a horse can be a tricky issue. If you think stealing a horse is problematic, consider the question, “Can you steal open source software?” I have to admit that I have never considered the question. ComputerWorld, however, has turned its considerable capabilities to this question and concluded, “Yep, you can steal open source and find yourself in a world of legal excitement.” The story “Question in Goldman Sachs Case: Can Open-Source Software Be Stolen?” explains what happens when a big outfit uses open source and an employee downloads that software and takes it home. Several thoughts flapped through the addled goose’s brain when he thought about Eric Lai’s story:
- What is really different between open source software used inside an organization and proprietary software licensed from IBM or some other outfit which contains open source components?
- Is open source really “open”?
- Will organizations use their legal eagles to redefine open source to make it by definition closed?
I don’t have answers to these questions which are probably superficial, ill advised, and not worthy of legal brain cycles. I wonder if the folks contributing to open source know that their efforts may morph into a state that is similar to the proprietary software that we know and love.
Stephen Arnold, August 28, 2009