The Open Source Licensing War Is Over?  ## Metadata - Author: [[The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source]] - Full Title: The Open Source Licensing War Is Over? - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/aed2659d-4095-4b66-9fad-6a92657cb115 ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **Bram Moolenaar's Passing** - Jerod Santo reflects on the passing of Bram Moolenaar, creator of Vim, and his contributions. - Santo regrets a missed opportunity to interview Moolenaar for the podcast. Transcript: Jerod Santo Nerds? I'm Jared and this is ChangeLogNews for the week of Monday, August 7th, 2023. The software community was jolted over the weekend when the family of Vim creator, Bram Mullenar, shared the sad news of his recent passing. Quote, It is with a heavy heart that we have to inform you that Bram Mullenar passed away on the 3rd of August 2023. Bram was suffering from a medical condition that progressed quickly over the last few weeks. Bram dedicated a large part of his life to Vim and he was very proud of the Vim community that you are all part of. End quote. Bram's work improved countless lives, mind included. I only communicated with him once when I was putting together our Vim episode a couple years back. He respectfully declined to be on the pod, but offered a written interview instead. The plan was to do it as a follow up once we shipped, but I soon forgot about it, missing a great opportunity to meet and thank someone who gifted me so much. Thank you Bram. ([Time 0:00:05](https://share.snipd.com/snip/adaca56a-b58e-4a5c-991c-d34b8e2b1f30)) - **Open Source Licensing Debate** - Matt Asay argues that open-source licensing battles are irrelevant because developers prioritize access and usability. - He believes software licensing matters less in the "post-open source revolution." Transcript: Jerod Santo You'll be missed. Okay, let's get into the news. Matt AC in Infoworld writes quote, It's time for the open source Rambo's to stop fighting and agree that developers care more about software's access and ease of use than the purity Of his license. This article of course prompted many quote open source Rambo's to disagree and start fighting about licenses once again. The context for Matt's article is meta's claim that llama 2 was open source despite its license restricting commercial use from players large enough to use it commercially. This means it's not actually open source by definition, which Matt agrees with, but his point is that it doesn't matter because nobody cares. Matt continues. Open source doesn't really matter anymore. Not as some countercultural raging against the corporate software machine anyway. All of this led me to conclude we're in the midst of the post open source revolution, a revolution in which software matters more than ever, but it's licensing matters less and less. I actually think Matt's overall conclusion is on point, but the way he describes those who care about such matters as Rambo's, Warriors etc. ([Time 0:01:08](https://share.snipd.com/snip/1512a905-f9ce-4733-ad51-ccd4396521e3)) - **Building AI Chat App UIs** - Use LangUI, an open-source Tailwind library, to easily design UIs for AI chat applications. - It offers pre-built components like prompt containers, history panels, and message inputs. Transcript: Jerod Santo Bit too flip it for me. Stay tuned though, we'll be talking more about this subject on upcoming episodes. Have you already asked chat GPT how to design a good UI for your new AI app and gotten back Bobkiss? Well, check out Lang UI. Open source tailwind library of 60 plus responsive and dark mode enabled components tailored for AI and GPT projects. What exactly does that mean? It means prompt containers, history panels, sidebars, message inputs, and all sorts of stuff that are chatbot related. ([Time 0:02:31](https://share.snipd.com/snip/03789a59-8ef2-4ba9-85fa-091a2ce0d2db)) - **Mac Mini PoE Mod** - Ivan Kuleshov modified a Mac mini to run via Power over Ethernet (PoE). - He documented the complex process, but advises against replication due to its difficulty and warranty implications. Transcript: Jerod Santo So you can stop asking chat GPT and build your own chat GPT with a sweet UI. Where hacker Ivan Kuleshov modded a Mac mini to run over power over ethernet and documented the entire wild adventure so we can ride along. But before you get any crazy ideas, he says, quote, I think you can replicate this, but I don't think you'll want to. Keep in mind it's quite time consuming. Something can go wrong at every step. You will avoid the warranty on your Mac mini, so it's your responsibility. It was an experiment, a test of skills, a topic for discussion, and just a hardware hacking project, end quote. Check the linked article for all of the gory details. Next up, he's thinking about adding power delivery so he can use the mini just by connecting a monitor that supports power delivery with one ([Time 0:03:07](https://share.snipd.com/snip/0642269a-4086-4937-88a4-c444550a4f6d)) - **Universal Scene Description** - Universal Scene Description (USD) is gaining traction as a standard for 3D modeling and scene description. - The newly formed Alliance for OpenUSD, backed by Apple, Adobe, and Pixar, supports its standardization. Transcript: Jerod Santo Cable. Have you heard about universal scene description or USD for short? I first learned all about it from NVIDIA's Guy Martin at All Things Open last year. So what is USD in its essence? Speaker 2 Is it a language? Is it a specification? Is it a high format? It's not a specification now and it's both a file format and a runtime. Okay. So it's a way to think about you take the visual effects perspective, right? You need to define a scene and you need to define everything that's part of that scene. All the objects in it, what all the materials are, what all the lighting is, all of those things. And the things that NVIDIA has been looking at. Jerod Santo He was quite excited about this quote, first open source software that can robustly and scalably interchange 3D scenes. But the big open question was, and often is, with up and coming standards, would it be adopted by enough key players to actually become a useful standard? Enter the newly formed Alliance for OpenUSD with the likes of Apple, Adobe and Autodesk, Joining Pixar and NVIDIA, behind the standardization, development, evolution and growth Of this 3D modeling tech that will now surely play a role in Apple's VisionOS and other Met diversity products. ([Time 0:04:06](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f855cf34-377f-4ef7-ba04-639078ee12df)) - **Tool Acquisition Strategy** - Adopt Kevin Kelly's tool acquisition strategy: buy the cheapest tool first, then upgrade if necessary. - This applies to software; use simple tools initially, then invest in sophisticated ones when the task justifies it. Transcript: Jerod Santo D. Cook describes a tool acquisition strategy that he picked up from Kevin Kelly. Quote, if you need a tool, buy the cheapest one you can find. If it's inadequate or breaks or you use it a lot, then buy the best one you can afford. John then applies that strategy in the context of software tools. Quote, there's something to be said for having crude tools that are convenient for small tasks and sophisticated tools that are appropriate for big tasks but not investing much in The middle. End quote. I find myself doing this often. I use crude, simple, not good enough tools for as long as possible. Finally, when it's painfully obvious that the job I'm using said tools to accomplish is worth investing in long term, I make the big investment. ([Time 0:06:17](https://share.snipd.com/snip/eaf5efb5-f66c-4f8b-94be-c47bc27cf77a))