Commons

• The dictionary says that a “Commons” is:

  • A public pasture ground
  • A piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area

• Governments as caretakers of various commons.

• The provisions of licenses like the GPL, and the community development model that they encourage, create a commons for software.

• The Tragedy of the Commons

  • an idea at least as old as Aristotle
  • popularized by Garrett James Hardin, 1915-2003
  • assumes that the resources of the commons are limited

• The Free Software commons has no such limitations!