PfSense Is Closed Source
I feel like by this point, in 2021, if you are a developer making contributions to "open source," and you're still getting surprised by these sorts of shenanigans, you only have yourself to blame.<p>This happens So. Freaking. Often. Companies take open source software private All The Damn Time. They hire the key devs away with just enough money. Then they release another version under a different license. And before you know it a previously open source project is now all but closed source.<p>It doesn't even have to be with shenanigans this nefarious. Once you have the two or three devs all you have to do is release a value-added component and all but cripple the community one. <i>It's roughly a million times cheaper than an acquisition.</i><p>If you want your hard-earned contributions to avoid this fate, <i>do not contribute to "open source" projects</i>. Find a copylefted project and contribute to that. Otherwise your work <i>will</i> end up being coopted by a profit-seeking enterprise.<p>Open source is the domain of large companies building fiefdoms. Just look at all those Apache projects and who contributes to them and who they're for. You would have to pay me big bucks to contribute to that ecosystem.<p>GPL or bust.