FSFE position on "open core"

[Mirko Boehm]

Hi,

I agree that Open Core approaches can damage Free Software. They use the 
Free Software core as a bait to again create artificial lock-in to a 
proprietary solution on top.

But...

On 06.01.2014 23:34, Torsten Grote wrote:
> On Sunday 05 January 2014 23:13:04 Florian Weimer wrote:
>> >Does FSF Europe really think that this model is a good way to fund free
>> >software development, absorbing the leftovers from proprietary software?
> No it absolutely does not! There's real Free Software companies and they show
> that it is possible to earn money without going Open Core.

We should not argue like that. There is no definition of what a "Free 
Software company" is. Companies do not produce software per se, they 
produce products and services, trying to offer a value that customers 
recognize and are willing to pay for. There is no special "Free Software 
economy" either, so I suggest we avoid inventing new terms and 
categories that are blurry or undefined.

Cheers,

Mirko.
-- 
Mirko Boehm | mirko at kde.org | KDE e.V.
FSFE Fellow, FSFE Team Germany
Qt Certified Specialist and Trainer