Self-interested fork problem: Difference between revisions
linking to allow for exact def'n of self-interested fork, since this has come up in a few places as an issue
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The '''self-interested fork problem''' is a variant of the [[bad copy problem]] where what is "bad" is simply the dilution of [[improvement]]s and the loss of a [[standard]]. The fork/copy itself may be quite good, even better than the original. However, anyone self-interested enough to fork it may also be self-interested enough to seek independent [[copyright]] or [[patent]] or even some [[trademark]] which prevent the original group from pursuing the same paths of development. | The '''[[self-interested fork]] problem''' is a variant of the [[bad copy problem]] where what is "bad" is simply the dilution of [[improvement]]s and the loss of a [[standard]]. The fork/copy itself may be quite good, even better than the original. However, anyone self-interested enough to fork it may also be self-interested enough to seek independent [[copyright]] or [[patent]] or even some [[trademark]] which prevent the original group from pursuing the same paths of development. | ||
[[Free software]] actively tries to prevent self-interested forks, by [[required reintegration]] - often this is called a [[viral license]]. [[Open source]] was created by people who wanted self-interested forks to occur and also did not see the [[bad copy problem]] as an issue at all. | [[Free software]] actively tries to prevent self-interested forks, by [[required reintegration]] - often this is called a [[viral license]]. [[Open source]] was created by people who wanted self-interested forks to occur and also did not see the [[bad copy problem]] as an issue at all. | ||