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> However if your company goal is to ensure the software exists (as a non-profit steward), this is a resounding success!

That depends on whether those big competitors are contributing code back.

If they are, then great, the code continues to exist as high quality open source, even if you're playing a smaller role.

If they aren't, then the good version isn't open source. Your goal is failing even when you ignore profit. And at that point maybe an "open source except for those guys" license gets you closer to your goal in practice.



Contributing code back alone doesn't help, if there isn't any sustainable source of income, those devs aren't going to pay supermarket and the landlord with the pull requests from big corp.


If your goal is just to make the software exist, then being put out of business isn't a problem. Which is how I read the hypothetical.


It is piramid, before the software gets to exist, living must be possible.


Yes? I don't see the issue here, except that old observation that entities built to solve a problem almost never want to shut down once the problem is solved.




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