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Sustainably free software¶
We are proud to say that our software is not just “free” but sustainably free.
Our software is more than just “free” or “open-source”: we call it sustainably free. It means that we develop and maintain it using a business model that is based on sharing rather than limiting the right to use it.
While free software becomes more and more popular, it can get misused by players who integrate some proprietary part into an otherwise free product.
They gain control over the usage rights on some part of the product like an installer or a front end.
They use a liberal free license, which leaves them the legal back door of switching to a proprietary license when the product has acquired enough popularity.
When such attempts are disclosed, they lead to a free (but weakened) fork in the best case, or to the death of the product in the worst case.
A legally free software product may become non-free when one of its components is non-free. Documentation is an important part of a software product. An otherwise free product is not sustainable when documentation and expert knowledge about it is controlled by a single entity.
Conclusion¶
Synodal Software can be used by anybody and forever to write a new application or host an existing one. You can do the work yourself or delegate it to a service provider of your choice.
It is a controversial topic. But even if you don’t share all our opinions, consider our belief as your warranty to long-lasting satisfaction because it changes our relationship from an owner-to-user dependency to a peer-to-peer partnership. As our customer you are legally free to choose another service provider at any moment without loosing the product that has grown by our collaboration.
Further reading¶
The sustainability of open source commons by Daniel Curto-Millet & Alberto Corsín Jiménez, published by Taylor & Francis, European Journal of Information Systems, 2022 (p 1-19).
Glossary¶
- intellectual work¶
When you do the work of explaining something in public, then you become the author of that work.
Your work can be a poem, an article, a book, a picture, a movie, a song, a scientific report, just to mention the major types.
Intellectual work is stored on a medium. Before the digital era this medium was paper, cellulose and magnetic tape.
- software product¶
An intellectual work consisting of a set of source files that may be compiled and then executed on a computer to make it provide a given set of functionalities.
This definition may differ from definitions used in proprietary software business where also compiled (non-source) content is considered a usable product.
- website¶
A set of HTML pages that are visible in public under a given URL.
Websites can be static or dynamic. A static website can be made e.g. by publishing a Sphinx documentation tree. A dynamic website is e.g. a Lino production site.
- copyright holder¶
The legal or natural person who published an intellectual work the source files of a software product and them. Modified or unmodified copies of the source files may be used only with permission of the copyright holder who usually specifies a license to regulate how his work may be used.
- vendor lock-in¶
The situation of a customer who has become dependent on a vendor for products and services, unable to switching to another vendor without substantial costs or other obstacles.
- proprietary software¶
Software that is published under a license that reserves to its copyright holder the right of sharing the software or derivative work.
- open-source software¶
Software for which the customer is given permission to consult the source code. This does not necessarily mean free software.
- free software¶
Software that is published by its copyright holder under a license that permits and encourages sharing of the software or derivative work.
Do not mix up free software with freeware (a proprietary software work that is distributed without fee).
- Sustainably Free Software¶
Free software that is developed and maintained using a business model that will keep it free. See Sustainably Free Software.
Software licenses are either free or proprietary. Free software licenses are either permissive or protective.
- proprietary license¶
A license where the copyright holder reserves all usage rights of the source code to themselves, including maintenance and development.
- free software license¶
A license where the copyright holder publicly gives certain usage rights to everybody under certain conditions.
- permissive Free Software license¶
A free software license that sets minimal requirements about how the software or derivative work may be redistributed.
An example is the BSD License.
- protective Free Software license¶
A free software license that requires redistribution of derivative work to be licensed under the same license.
An example is the GNU General Public License..