Hi Johannes, On Wed, May 29, 2024 at 11:10:24AM +0200, Johannes Näder wrote: > During the last years, openwashing has become a growing issue in the Free > Software community,
yes, it's a very sad practice, I would say at least for 5 years now. > * How would you define "openwashing"? In the context of software: The attempt to call software "open source" (in theory it would also apply to Free Software, but I don't think many do that) while it does not conform to either FSF Definition, OSI Definition, or Debian DFGS. In some cases it's very clear cut: The licenses used simply do not confirm with either of the above definitions. In some other cases it's that some elements of software may be true FOSS, but then various other elements are propretary (so basically open core) without making that clear to the reader of e.g. a product website. > * What examples of openwashing come to your mind (e.g. from your country, > professional network)? The most annyoing and persistent example in my personal / professional spehre is the https://openairinterface.org/ who use a custom licens that all experts I have asked persistently call not compatible with either OSI nor DFSG. Initially they used the term "open source" a lot, I think recently they tend to use "open software" at least in some places. However, even on tehir home page they still have statements like > The OpenAirInterfaceTM Software Alliance (OSA) is a non-profit > consortium to develop an ecosystem for open-source software/hardware > development for the core network (EPC) and access network (EUTRAN) of > 3GPP cellular networks The same claim is on https://openairinterface.org/openairinterface-an-open-cellular-ecosystem/ I've called them out many times publicly on social media, on mailing lists and even in public presentations / conferences. They persistently ignore my complaints about it. > * Have you experienced openwashing in your project, organisation, or > environment? How does it affect you and how do you deal with it? I would never be involved with any project or organization that practises this. > * Are you aware of cases where companies have won public tenders by > openwashing? What did they do and what happened? I did not perform research in that area, but given that OpenAirInterface has academic research background, I would not be surprised if they managed to get public funding while claiming or implying their software is open source. > * Do you see openwashing as a major problem for Free Software and the Free > Software community? If so, why? I see it as one of the biggest threats, as it leads to confusion and misunderstanding among users who do not have a pre-existing clear understanding of what FOSS is. Also, it is anti-competitive in a sense that there are other true FOSS projects who provide all the freedoms of true FOSS, and many people who don't do deep license research consider them equal to openwashing-non-foss projects. > * Do you know of any resources on openwashing (news articles and analyses, > scientific papers, studies, statistics...)? nope. > * What would you suggest to face openwashing? I would suggest to have stewards like FSF, Debian, OSI and others to have some kind of process by which a given software project can be audited with a resulting "authoritative" statement that what they do is neither Free Software nor Open Source Software. Maybe the OSI license review process can be hacked by somebody who is not the license steward (like a random user) submitting such non-FOSS licenses for review and in the end getting the result "this license is not OSI OSD compliant"? -- - Harald Welte <lafo...@gnumonks.org> https://laforge.gnumonks.org/ ============================================================================ "Privacy in residential applications is a desirable marketing option." (ETSI EN 300 175-7 Ch. A6) _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list -- discussion@lists.fsfe.org To unsubscribe send an email to discussion-le...@lists.fsfe.org This mailing list is covered by the FSFE's Code of Conduct. All participants are kindly asked to be excellent to each other: https://fsfe.org/about/codeofconduct
