Originally posted by DrYak
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- the user wants to pay a developer to improve their software. How does the developer get the closed source but source available (CSBSA) software? The license for the closed source software may explicitly prohibit making copies or sharing copies with other people. The license may say that only the original purchaser can have access to it.
- multiple users are running slightly different versions of the same CSBSA software. The Open Source patch that user A developed to improve his software might not work with the slightly different version of the CSBSA software that user B is running. How does user B reconcile this issue?
- a very obvious problem: what if a CSBSA software user simply wants to share their CSBSA software with another user? They probably can't.
I'm sure there are loads of other potential issues too.
I definitely appreciate that it's better when the source code is available even if it's restricted by a closed source license. I also think this Open Source patching idea is a nice workaround to improve the situation. However, I think there are considerable advantages to having actual Open Source software as opposed to CSBSA software. If Jolla do ever Open Source all software and apps, then the users will be far more protected now and in the future even if Putin, Obama & the Queen of England buy out Jolla and attempt to impose some nefarious plot on the old Jolla users.
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