Some startups are going ‘fair source’ to avoid the pitfalls of open source licensing | TechCrunch

Developer software company Sentry introduces a new license category dubbed "fair source" The fair source concept is designed to help companies align themselves with the “open” software development sphere, without encroaching into existing licensing landscapes.

Sentry is an initial adopter, as are some half dozen others, including GitButler , a developer tooling company from one of GitHub ’s founders.

Companies are welcome to submit their own license for consideration, though all fair source licenses should have three core stipulations: It should be publicly available to read, allow third parties to use, modify, and redistribute with “minimal restrictions“ The concept of “delaying” publication of source code under a true open source license is a key defining element of a fair source license, separating it from other models such as open core.

Fair source licenses are not open source licenses because the freedoms they grant do not apply to everyone.

Fair source is a new venture in the open-source software movement.

GitHub founder Chacon says he wants to protect employees and investors while giving users as much access and freedom as possible.

Other startups to join the early fair source fervor include YC-alum CodeCrafters ; PowerSync ; Ptah.sh; and Keygen .