I can't find the link, but I remember someone from the X Window System regretting that X11 was under the MIT License - it's the origin of the MIT License - rather than copyleft, precisely because so many companies just would not give code back.
> Keith made it clear he prefers GPL-style (copyleft/sharealike) licences to MIT/BSD style ones. Net contributors of code tend to prefer the former, while net consumers of code (those who don’t want to give back to the community) tend to favour the latter. In other words, freeloaders.
> while net consumers of code (those who don’t want to give back to the community) tend to favour the latter. In other words, freeloaders.
I think this is a really unfair statement - "net consumers of code ... freeloaders".
While there are surely plenty of users of code who are not contributing at all, and they would be freeloaders, the phrasing "net consumers" means that some of the consumers are contributing back code, just not as much as they consume.
I would wager that most end users are freeloaders (they never commit code back).
I would further wager that most developers are closer to end-users.
Finally, I would wager that the vast majority of developers who contribute code are net consumers, not producers.
To me, it's not so surprising that a few people who put in the most public effort sometimes feel bitter that others don't carry their weight.
Keith Packard on this in 2015:
https://list.waikato.ac.nz/pipermail/wlug/2015-September/013...
> Keith made it clear he prefers GPL-style (copyleft/sharealike) licences to MIT/BSD style ones. Net contributors of code tend to prefer the former, while net consumers of code (those who don’t want to give back to the community) tend to favour the latter. In other words, freeloaders.