But really, relicensing a GPL codebase to MIT is uninteresting.
Let's do the interesting one, which is: vibe code a "clean room" reimplementation of an entire proprietary codebase! After all, Microsoft released a "shared source" proprietary version of Windows. Now try seeing what happens if you run THAT through the "turn it into public domain" machine
Win-win outcome, no matter how it goes
Winning option 1: yes, you can vibe code proprietary codebases into the public domain, allowing us to bootstrap proprietary codebases quickly
Winning option 2: stopping laundering of copyleft codebases
Either of these are interesting outcomes!
@cwebber I love the idea of weaponizing their reasoning in support of the working class.
Cynically though, I think there’s a third outcome: rules for thee, but not for me. In which Microsoft uses the full weight of their wallet to crush the common person, but is free to steal themselves, to profit off of the open source community. The rest of us are left to victimize each other with little legal recourse.
Is it logically consistent? Nope, but that’s the weird timeline we live in.
@Haste I increasingly see this as big tech and business having found a way to cut the legs off what has been a rapidly growing threat to their business models: FOSS.
GenAI can both copyright wash any source code, especially FOSS, and destroy the FOSS ecosystem. FOSS is terribly vulnerable right now and given the capture of governments and lawmakers by AI hype and lobbyists, I'm not sure it can survive in current form.
Christine Lemmer-Webber
EVHaste
Mark Hughes