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AWS forked my project and launched it as its own service

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Re: AWS forked my project and launched it as its own service

#61

Post by xmaayyy »

oefrha wrote: post #18

Taking permissively licensed open source code without so much of an attribution obviously sucks, but I can’t quite see the evidence that this is a fork? Same concept, sure. Code generated is similar but different enough, and there aren’t really many ways to express the similar bits... Interface isn’t exactly breakthrough either, anyone would have used a textarea + buttons. (Only looked at the screenshots.) Can someon…

It's in the third or fourth tweet that the link to his website is in the extensions

https://twitter.com/maxibanki/status/1317071448322789376?s=1...

Re: AWS forked my project and launched it as its own service

#62

Post by dak1 »

I'm extremely disappointed to see how many comments on here focus on the very narrow legal questions and amount to: "Your license didn't say they couldn't."

Open source software is more than a license and code. It is a community and the digital public square.

And the Tragedy of the Commons is just as applicable to our public square as it is to William Forster Lloyd's common land.

Either we as a community hold ourselves and others within our community to a higher standard than the text of a license, or licenses will inevitably become increasingly restrictive in the future, to the detriment of all.

Re: AWS forked my project and launched it as its own service

#63

Post by ksec »

jasode wrote: post #42

There are some replies in this thread that misunderstood the content of Tim Nolet's twitter post. (Probably because the short headline has pitchfork raising overtones.) - He's not complaining that Amazon forked his code with Apache license. He admits he also uses other open source with permissive licenses - He just thought it would be nice/courteous/polite/etc if Amazon acknowledge/recognized/credited/mentioned/thank…

Yes I remember there was a similar scenario with Microsoft as well.

> In other words, I'm not aware of a permissive license that's the same as BSD/Apache with the only difference in that also says "use it as you wish but you must mention my name when you're a commercial enterprise making a splashy product announcement".

Yes. What we need is ABSD, AMIT or AAPL where the first A stands for appreciation / Attribution

Re: AWS forked my project and launched it as its own service

#64

Post by varispeed »

3pt14159 wrote: post #15
curiousgal wrote: post #3

> Not necessary as per the APLv2 license The conversation ends there, doesn't it?

Not really. The conversation goes on as long as we like. Part of OSS is about trust and reputation. AWS could have really helped the maintainer with a single sentence and they didn't. It's like not saying thanks to the barista when you get your coffee. Not the end of the world, but it's still a touch rude.

The model where company makes money off of someone else's work without paying them should be illegal. Currently you cannot hire someone as an apprentice and don't pay them - you need to give at least the minimum wage. OSS is sort of a loophole where companies can obtain work without payment. I think this practice should be illegal and regardless of the license company adopting OSS solution should pay its contributors market rates - that is the amount of money it would take AWS to pay to create such product.

Re: AWS forked my project and launched it as its own service

#65

Post by mywacaday »

ivanbakel wrote: post #20
nicoburns wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's surely a space between "perfectly acceptable" and "illegal"? I don't like this idea that you have no right to complain about something if you haven't specifically banned it in a legally enforceable license.

In this case, the author can set out what they think is acceptable in their license terms. Attribution costs nothing to the user - so if you want it, stick it in your license. People should be able to comfortably use software within the bounds of the license without worrying about the author coming along and then shaming them for not complying with an additional set of implicit constraints. Yes, it would have been ni…

I think it comes back to politeness, somewhere in amazon there is product manager that saw or was shown Tim's repo and saw an opportunity(nothing wrong with that). It would have been a nice thing to do to give him a shoutout just like it was a nice thing to do of Tim's to release his code under a permissive license. There must be a mountain of code forked by large companies that if given some sort of recognition would be of benefit to the original author even if its only internet points.

Re: AWS forked my project and launched it as its own service

#66

Post by acomjean »

barkingcat wrote: post #24
nicoburns wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's surely a space between "perfectly acceptable" and "illegal"? I don't like this idea that you have no right to complain about something if you haven't specifically banned it in a legally enforceable license.

That's the way corporations have acted forever. If attribution is needed, put it in the license.

They’ll do it too.

If I look through the menus of my oldish (not smart) Panasonic flatscreen tv, there is a menu option that displays all the licenses of the open source software used.

Re: AWS forked my project and launched it as its own service

#69

Post by asdasdasdas5453 »

cmaker10 wrote: post #48

Could everyone take a moment here and reflect on their hostile attitude towards an open source author who just wants to be treated fairly (in a moral sense)? My guess is that none of the people who are lecturing and gloating have ever written anything substantial. Shame on you.

I am baffled by the comments as well.

Re: AWS forked my project and launched it as its own service

#70

Post by warrenq »

senko wrote: post #45
tnolet wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP here. You are 100% right. But it's more about the spirit than the letter here. My company heavily depends on OS from some great projects: we make money based on other people's hard work too. Just a short "shout out" would have been nice. We do that with many open source projects, or we sponsor them. And we are a tiny tiny company.

I agree with you, but Amazon hasn't reached $1.6T market cap by being "nice". (edit: corrected amount, thx jimhi).

You missed a T there.
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