Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, is shaking things up in the open-source world. In a blog post from July 7, he announced that he’s rethinking his long-standing support for permissive software licenses and is now warming up to the idea of “copyleft” licenses. So, what’s behind this major shift? Let’s dive in.
Historically, Buterin was a big fan of permissive licenses like MIT or CC0. These licenses allowed developers to use, modify, and redistribute code freely, with minimal restrictions. In his mind, this made the code more accessible and supported wider adoption. But, as open-source has grown, things are changing. Buterin now believes that “copyleft” licenses, think GPL or CC-BY-SA, may be the better approach to protect openness in today’s competitive, tech-heavy world.
What’s Behind the Change?
Buterin isn’t just going with the flow here. This shift comes from three main observations:
- Open Source Goes Mainstream: Big names like Google, Microsoft, and Huawei are not just using open-source code, they’re publishing their own. In this new environment, the copyleft approach helps ensure that big corporations don’t just benefit from open-source without contributing back.
- Crypto Gets Competitive: In the crypto space, things have gotten, well, a bit more “mercenary.” Projects aren’t always open-sourcing their code just because it’s the right thing to do. With fewer altruistic motives, Buterin argues that we need the legal muscle of copyleft to keep the community progressing together.
- Economic Forces at Play: Buterin, inspired by economist Glen Weyl, argues that in industries with high returns to scale, the concentration of power becomes inevitable. Big players can outproduce smaller ones, creating monopolies. Copyleft, he believes, could offer a neutral way to spread technology and prevent monopolistic power grabs.
The Copyleft Vision
Buterin sees copyleft as a way to keep things fair and decentralized, encouraging companies to share their improvements rather than hoard them. It’s all about keeping the playing field level. He notes that while permissive licenses are still useful for universal adoption, the world’s changed, and the need for copyleft has never been greater.
So, while permissive licenses had their time in the sun, Buterin is calling for developers to think twice and embrace copyleft as a tool to ensure that technological progress remains accessible and equitable for all, especially in the competitive tech landscape we’re navigating today.
It’s clear: Vitalik Buterin isn’t just about creating a decentralized internet; he’s advocating for a decentralized, fairer way of sharing code.
Gunel Ismayilova
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