#GPL

Salvatore Sanfilippo (@antirez) and Armin Ronacher (@mitsuhiko) both argue that #AI reimplementation of #copyleft libraries is fine. Their legal reasoning might be correct. That's not the point.

Legal and legitimate are different things—and both pieces quietly assume otherwise.

https://writings.hongminhee.org/2026/03/legal-vs-legitimate/

#GPL #LGPL #license #opensource #freesoftware

Salvatore Sanfilippo (@antirez) and Armin Ronacher (@mitsuhiko) both argue that #AI reimplementation of #copyleft libraries is fine. Their legal reasoning might be correct. That's not the point.

Legal and legitimate are different things—and both pieces quietly assume otherwise.

https://writings.hongminhee.org/2026/03/legal-vs-legitimate/

#GPL #LGPL #license #opensource #freesoftware

Salvatore Sanfilippo (@antirez) and Armin Ronacher (@mitsuhiko) both argue that #AI reimplementation of #copyleft libraries is fine. Their legal reasoning might be correct. That's not the point.

Legal and legitimate are different things—and both pieces quietly assume otherwise.

https://writings.hongminhee.org/2026/03/legal-vs-legitimate/

#GPL #LGPL #license #opensource #freesoftware

Salvatore Sanfilippo (@antirez) and Armin Ronacher (@mitsuhiko) both argue that #AI reimplementation of #copyleft libraries is fine. Their legal reasoning might be correct. That's not the point.

Legal and legitimate are different things—and both pieces quietly assume otherwise.

https://writings.hongminhee.org/2026/03/legal-vs-legitimate/

#GPL #LGPL #license #opensource #freesoftware

Per KI Plagiate anfertigen lassen, um neue Lizenzen setzen zu können. Unmoralisch.

https://www.osnews.com/story/144547/the-great-license-washing-has-begun/

#dankeai #noai #ai #FreeSoftware #Copyleft #gpl

@bortzmeyer overheard at #FOSDEM
> “There is a guy who does a lot of work to help the fediverse and to push people toward it. His name is Donald Trump.”

This statement contains multitudes b/c #TruthSocial is a fork of #Mastodon. Initially, $DJT violated the #AGPLv3, but AFAIK they now comply with the license. I examined the fork & they primary code they added was an advertising platform. Obviously it doesn't have federation turned on.

Cc: @jzb

#GPL #FOSDEM2026 #FOSDEM26 #copyleft #AGPL

@bortzmeyer overheard at #FOSDEM
> “There is a guy who does a lot of work to help the fediverse and to push people toward it. His name is Donald Trump.”

This statement contains multitudes b/c #TruthSocial is a fork of #Mastodon. Initially, $DJT violated the #AGPLv3, but AFAIK they now comply with the license. I examined the fork & they primary code they added was an advertising platform. Obviously it doesn't have federation turned on.

Cc: @jzb

#GPL #FOSDEM2026 #FOSDEM26 #copyleft #AGPL

@skyfaller, to add to what @ossguy said, I think a #copyleft-@next should clearly state that the 3ʳᵈ party beneficiary right to users is intended. While it was clearly intended by #GPL & #LGPL, we've had to spend 5 years & substantial resources in #SFC's case against #Vizio to adjudicate 3PB under copyleft.

Decades of copyleft litigation has taught me that you really do need to say explicitly in the license text what is obvious to everyone, as bad actors love to be disingenuous.

Hidden in the picture are a Firefox, a GNU, and a penguin with an Arch installation. Can you find them all?

#penguin #tux #xmas #christmas #search #puzzle #meme #linux #arch #iusearchbtw #software #gnu #gpl #firefox #freedom #foss #floss #opensource #seasons #party #nerd #humor #just4fun

Hidden in the picture are a Firefox, a GNU, and a penguin with an Arch installation. Can you find them all?

#penguin #tux #xmas #christmas #search #puzzle #meme #linux #arch #iusearchbtw #software #gnu #gpl #firefox #freedom #foss #floss #opensource #seasons #party #nerd #humor #just4fun

@FediFollows

Just followed the Software Free Conservancy after receiving a postcard from

https://mastodon.sdf.org/@conservancy@sfconservancy.org

#SoftwareFreedom #GPL

#License nerds: Is it compatible with #GPL v3 to ask soft-phone users to accept "general terms" and a "privacy policy" if all you want is to use a THIRD PARTY account? I think this is a violation. 🤔

Looking at you @linphone1 …

#License nerds: Is it compatible with #GPL v3 to ask soft-phone users to accept "general terms" and a "privacy policy" if all you want is to use a THIRD PARTY account? I think this is a violation. 🤔

Looking at you @linphone1 …

🥳 Happy ㉊th birthday, @GIMP ! 🎂

In 1995, November 21, a young US student, Peter Mattis, announces a program on some Linux newsgroups, called "The GIMP: the General Image Manipulation Program". 2 years later, Spencer Kimball (other co-author) and Peter graduate and leave.

Thanks to the #GPL license, the community take over development.

30 years later… The project is thriving, with contributors from all over the world, and maintainers from Germany, Norway, France, Korea, Netherlands… 🤗

🥳 Happy ㉊th birthday, @GIMP ! 🎂

In 1995, November 21, a young US student, Peter Mattis, announces a program on some Linux newsgroups, called "The GIMP: the General Image Manipulation Program". 2 years later, Spencer Kimball (other co-author) and Peter graduate and leave.

Thanks to the #GPL license, the community take over development.

30 years later… The project is thriving, with contributors from all over the world, and maintainers from Germany, Norway, France, Korea, Netherlands… 🤗

Generally speaking, #copyleft codebases interact best with small-to-medium business ventures rather than advancing the interests of megacorps.

#Mastodon is an obvious example — which has a growing ecosystem of small businesses (like @mastohost) & nonprofit entities working in collaboration.

We see similar in the #GPL'd #Drupal community.

When megacorps get involved with copylefted projects, it's usually to exploit rather than engage — hence the widespread #GPLv2 violations on #Linux.
#AGPLv3

@kkarhan @maybeanerd @landley #bigtech should definitely pay for the shit they produce or use, one way or another. Why work for them for free?

What's your source for the BusyBox thing? According to Wikipedia they settled the cases for future compliance and undisclosed amounts of money, which seems to be a good thing (for the developers probably and for everyone because the modified code had to be released)

#GPL

@maybeanerd this is nothing new.

#Google also doesn't allow #GPL in #Android (except #Linux Kernel) to the point that they explicitly ban anyone from calling it "Android" if they did so.

• On the flipside developers like @landley evidenced with #BusyBox that enforcing license terms doesn't do much than burnout IP lawyers and scare away [corporate] contributors.

That being said, if you want to monopolize your #FLOSS and make shure none of the #GAFAMs want to even look at it (but instread invest millions into building a binary-compatible, drop-in replacement) then "#AssholeLicensing" with #AGPLv3 or even #SSPL is possible and OFC you can license your work under your terms…

#NotLegalAdvice #Licensing #OpenSource #GAFAM

I wonder if we should have #GPL 4 that would cover machine learning. Something like "if this code is used to train an LLM, then the code produced by the LLM must be released under the same license". I know there are many challenges, such as effective enforcement, but if this issue remains unaddressed, I believe LLMs may become a way to evade license virality.

#freesoftware #OpenSource #licensing

@cwebber, are you are familiar w/ this #ThisAmericanLife segment?… https://www.thisamericanlife.org/516/stuck-in-the-middle-2014/act-one-0
…Since I heard the above ≈10 yrs ago, I've been annoyed ∄ a searchable database of known hold music (no, I won't use Google or Alexa).

Another thing I ponder on hold:
When I hear #GPL'd clips that are clearly Allison Smith's voice¹ from #Asterisk, I ponder if playing them to me is distribution & thus #copyleft violation.

Cc: @kevin @clarity @vv @ATLeagle
¹ https://theivrvoice.com/ https://my.digium.com/en/products/ivr/allisonsmith/

TIL there is a EUPL license (similar to GPLv3) which has been specifically aligned with EU-law. https://eupl.eu

#eu #eupl #gpl #foss

TIL there is a EUPL license (similar to GPLv3) which has been specifically aligned with EU-law. https://eupl.eu

#eu #eupl #gpl #foss

Learn here how NAT traversal works

https://tailscale.com/blog/how-nat-traversal-works

#NAT #Networking #programming #OpenSource #POSIX #GNU #GPL #BSD #freeBSD

I am back to Redis!
`Redis is now available under the AGPLv3 open source license.`
https://redis.io/blog/agplv3/
#agpl3 #gpl #redis

Comment Orange a finalement été condamnée pour violation de licence libre
https://www.entrouvert.com/actualites/2024/orange-et-violation-de-la-licence-libre/
#GPL #logicielslibres

Comment Orange a finalement été condamnée pour violation de licence libre
https://www.entrouvert.com/actualites/2024/orange-et-violation-de-la-licence-libre/
#GPL #logicielslibres

Attending #FOSDEM and interested in Legal and Policy topics? Have a look at what we put together for our dev room here: https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/track/legal-and-policy/

Covering eInvoice, reflection on #SBOM, Trademarks, #DeviceNeutrality on Routers, managing copyrights at #GNU, Datamining, #FreeSoftware AI, auditing web trackers, #FreeSoftware on #iOS, breaking tech monopolies ( #Apple ) with the EU Commission, antitrust, several aspects of the #CRA (#GPL + implementation).

Looking forward to see many of you there!

Attending #FOSDEM and interested in Legal and Policy topics? Have a look at what we put together for our dev room here: https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/track/legal-and-policy/

Covering eInvoice, reflection on #SBOM, Trademarks, #DeviceNeutrality on Routers, managing copyrights at #GNU, Datamining, #FreeSoftware AI, auditing web trackers, #FreeSoftware on #iOS, breaking tech monopolies ( #Apple ) with the EU Commission, antitrust, several aspects of the #CRA (#GPL + implementation).

Looking forward to see many of you there!

Mietin tässä vaan, että tunteekohan kaikki GPL:n idean? Välillä tuntuu, että vapaan koodin idea on ihan vieras porukoille. Pitäiskö vääntää rautalangasta blogissa? #gpl #foss

@erlend
That's good to hear, their silence is not.

Without casting aspersions on n0, we have a problem adopting and using code that is too permissive because the licensing can be flipped whenever the controlling organisation chooses.

Nothing is perfect, but as that is becoming more common, #GPL or better #AGPL seems to be a way of reassuring to help build a community and I think there need to be good reasons for rejecting it. The WordPress situation could be far worse without it
@n0iroh

Open source is the libertarianism [derogatory] of the software world. It's the adolescent, knee-jerk "don't tell me what to do" of licensing.

And just like libertarianism, it's completely co-opted by big money interests using the sentiment to entrench their own interests over the needs of real human beings.

Copyleft on the other hand is punk as fuck. Copyleft is anarchist praxis for software. Copyleft builds community. Copyleft ensures code belongs to actual human beings in perpetuity, even as it grows and evolves.

Fuck open source. Use copyleft licenses.

#OpenSource #Copyleft #GPL #OSS #FOSS #FLOSS

normalise paying for free software.

developers do not create free software if they can not afford rent or food. consider paying for the free software you value.

free of charge (gratis) is an emergent property of #FOSS / #FLOSS , not a core principle such as freedom (libre).

the #GNU project and #GPL license support developers who ask a fee for free software. (https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html).

This is wildly ambitious of me, but who wants to join me in creating a #FOSS alternative to discord? I believe that we can break the cycle of enshittification by being #OpenSource . This is a massive undertaking, though, and I can't do it alone.

Please boost to spread the word, and reply if you're interested in joining.

#software #development #GPL #GPLv2 #GPLv3

#introduction

I fight for the users.

I love programming and thinking and talking about thinking. I have an education (BS, MS, PhD) focused on artificial intelligence and neuroscience.

I'm an advocate of the public academic pursuit of knowledge, the scientific process, peer review, and I see open source software and hardware as an essential part of the scientific process.

I see software user rights, including security and privacy, to be protected mainly by free open source software, specifically software with a copyleft license, i.e. GPL or Mozilla.

I see the democratizing effects of the Internet, including distributed journalism and social networking, to be largely the effect of the collaborative development of free and open source software.

I am interested in free and open source manufacturing, including open source 3D printers and CNC machines. I believe open source manufacturing will be important for distributed manufacturing, allowing local manufacturing and local labor.

I see worker-owned coops as the way to safely transition from a non-democratic authoritarian top-down power structure of a traditional corporation to a democratic work environment, where the workers own the company and elect the board of directors, transitioning to democracy in the workplace.

I believe that socialism is a regulatory response to capitalism.

I believe that laws, money, corporations, and government are social agreements, and I'm in favor of democratic social agreements.

I believe in the organized non-violent boycott as a way to control capitalists and change corrupt systems.

I am a pacifist. I am against violence. I am against citizens keeping guns in cities and towns with children. I am against war.

I try to eat plant-based / vegan foods to boycott the animal industry, to help with the climate crisis, to improve my health, to avoid animal cruelty, and to avoid the extinction of species of plants, animals and ecosystems.

I have been diagnosed with Retinitus Pigmentosa, which is a disease of progressive retinal degeneration. I am legally blind, although I have about 5-degrees of vision remaining in my fovea. I'm interested in researching and developing BCIs (Brain-Computer Interfaces), specifically BCIs that function as vision prostheses that may help with conditions like RP, or the more common degenerative retinal disease AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration).

I enjoy playing computer games like Age of Empires and Rimworld. I used to program computer games when I was younger and would like to get back to it one day.

I love playing music, especially bass guitar. I've been listening to a lot of Rage Against the Machine and Enya recently.

I enjoy reading books, mostly non-fiction.

I enjoy studying religions. I've found a lot of value in Buddhism, and I meditate often daily.

Nina and I have recently had our first baby, a boy we call Tyoma.

I'm currently working at Apple on the Vision Pro headset team.

I'm sober.

#users #fightforusers #userrights #programming #thinking #thinkingaboutthinking #ai #artificialintelligence #neuroscience #journalism #science #scientificprocess #peerreview #foss #fosh #flosh #floss #freeandopensource #freedomsoftware #libresoftware #copyleft #gpl #agpl #mozilla #license #ls #academia #privacy #security #democracy #internet #socialnetwork #distributed #cnc #3dprinting #locallabor #localmanufacturing #coop #workerowned #democracyatwork #regulation #laws #money #corporations #government #socialagreement #boycott #controlcapital #nonviolent #pacifist #antivolence #antigun #noguns #schoolshooting #antiwar #plantbased #vegan #climatecrisis #animalindustry #animalcruelty #extinction #animal #plant #ecosystem #environment #retinituspigmentosa #rp #agerelatedmaculardegeneration #amd #blind #lowvision #bci #games #computergames #ageofempires #rimworld #gamedev #music #bassguitar #rageagainstthemachine #enya #religion #reading #books #readingbooks #buddhism #baby #apple #visionpro #sober

Update. Turns out that John #Deere has been using open code under the #GPL w/o living up to the license. The Software Freedom Conservancy (@conservancy) is calling on it to comply — which would greatly enhance #farmers' #RightToRepair.
https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/mar/16/john-deere-gpl-violations/

"We…publicly call on John Deere to immediately resolve all of its outstanding GPL violations…by providing complete source code…that the GPL & other copyleft licenses require, to the farmers & others who are entitled to it."

#OpenSource

I lost #introduction when changing servers. Hi again, I am a one man company that specializes in computer animation, but mostly uses social networks to tootpost, retoot and consume some armchair extremism.

🎨 #2danimation #animation #blender #madeWithSpine #gameart #gamewriting #gamedev #madewithconstruct

🚀 #space #arduino #opensource #gpl #ecology

🎲 #ttrpg #larp #boardgames #nerf #cosplay

🕹️ #retro #emptyepsilon #simpit

📺📙 #terrypratchett #jackvance #discworld #dresdenfiles #cartoon