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Commit d50531bd authored by Karl Fogel's avatar Karl Fogel
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Further update README following publication

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Research on *delayed open source publication* (DOSP): the practice of
publishing a software release under a proprietary license initially,
then later (usually in a planned fashion) publishing that release's
source code under an open source license.
While delayed open source publication has been somewhat rare, there are
some examples of it across the history of open source -- in fact, some
of the examples (e.g., Aladdin Ghostscript) predate the coining of the
term "open source". To the best of our knowledge, when software
authors have done this it has usually been in a fairly predictable
way. For example, when release N goes out under a proprietary
license, release N-1 is then (re)published under an open source
license.
This repository is a collection of research, and a resultant
[whitepaper](https://opensource.org/delayed-open-source-publication),
about various examples of DOSP and show how they are alike or
different. We also analyze the effects (if any) of this practice
generally on open source as a field. Our purpose is to provide
accurate historical description and objective analysis; our work here
represents no position on the desirability or undesirability of
delayed open source publication.
about *delayed open source publication* (DOSP): the practice of
publishing a software release under a proprietary license initially,
then later publishing that release's source code under an open source
license. (This is often, but not always, done in a predictable
fashion: e.g., when release N goes out under a proprietary license,
release N-1 is then (re)published under an open source license.)
There are examples of DOSP across the history of open source -- in
fact, some of the examples (e.g., Aladdin Ghostscript) predate the
coining of the term "open source". We looked at various instances of
DOSP and examined how they are alike or different. We also analyzed
the effects (if any) of DOSP on open source as a field. Our purpose
was to provide accurate historical description and objective analysis;
our work here represents no position on the desirability or
undesirability of delayed open source publication.
This research was supported by the [Open Source Initiative
(OSI)](https://opensource.org/). The report is now completed and
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