RE: Opscode Blog - Why we chose the Apache License
http://blog.opscode.com/2009/08/why-we-chose-the-apache-license.html
 
(I attempted to post this as a comment on the opscode blog but it
was rejected due to length, language, or some technical glitch.
I've emailed them and am posting it here instead.)
 
----
 
This seems sensible and addresses most of my initial
skepticism. I appreciate it. Let me dump out some of my
initial thoughts on the matter in return. It may help you hone
the messaging on this stuff even further so that contributors
aren't scared away by bad assumptions.
 
(I should mention that I'm speaking entirely from the
standpoint of a potential individual contributor here and not
in any way on behalf of Heroku.)
 
The ASF and Opscode are very different types of organizations.
The ASF is a non-profit, opscode a for-profit. The CLA
requirements were put in place at the ASF to protect the
community from the massive patent/copyright suites held by
corporate contributors like Sun, IBM, Oracle, etc. and also to
offer some protection to those same organizations from
individual contributors. It struck me as very odd to see the
same CLA used within the context of a for-profit, private
corporation. Do the implications of signing a CLA change when
granting a license to a for-profit as opposed to a non-profit?
IANAL, so I really don't know.
 
I do know that it's possible to effect the decision making
process at the ASF. The ASF's corporate assets are managed by
their board of directors, and the board is elected by ASF
members. I'm an ASF member immediately after signing a CLA and
contributing code (assuming it's accepted). Board meetings are
basically transparent, with minutes available on the web. And
the ASF was formed specifically with the goal of "creating an
independent legal entity to which companies and individuals
can donate resources and be assured that those resources will
be used for the public benefit." The ASF board's job is to
further that goal.
 
Opscode-the-corporation's goals are -- by legal definition --
very different from the ASF's, even if your current intentions
are very similar. It's clear from your thorough explanation
that your intentions are, well, wonderful (seriously. laying
them out like this took me from being afraid of opscode to
wanting to contribute because it's clear we believe in the
same things). The thing is, IANAL, so licensing situations
without precedence make me nervous. And legal devices are more
about *capabilities* than they are about intentions anyway.
And I don't get to vote on your board after signing the CLA
and contributing code.
 
I guess what I'm getting at is, 1.) it's less likely that the
ASF would mishandle the rights the CLA grants, and 2.) I have
many more avenues for impacting how the ASF uses those rights.
Does that make sense?
 
Your explanation doesn't really clear up much of the above,
but it does give me a good feeling for your intentions. That's
worth something.
 
One thing I was mistaken about after reading the FAQ, and
something you cleared up in this piece, is assignment of
copyright. You state above that, "what [the CLA] doesn't do is
assign copyright to Opscode - we think that doing so would set
us apart from our community in an inappropriate way." The FAQ
states, "that you grant copyright license for your
contributions to Opscode" and "that you grant patent license
for your contributions to Opscode." These two statements are
consistent but it's much more clearly stated here than in
the FAQ. A casual reading of the FAQ could leave potential
contributors with the sense that they're signing over
rights for their work, as opposed to granting a license to
use and distribute their work.
 
Lastly, I'll just mention what you already know: the CLA is a
big pain in the ass and that's going to decrease contributions
and overall acceptance. Signing and faxing the form is not a
big deal, it's having to think about it that sucks. It's a
very creative business model and maybe it strikes the right
balance but from the perspective of an individual outside
contributor, it worries me that the barriers to participation
are so much higher than most other projects.
 
Thanks. I hope this helps.