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Equiet11/04/20253 repliesview on HN

All standards are ultimately controlled by private companies. Even non-profits require funding.

Open source always depended on a viable business model (of one or many companies) that can sustain not just the release, but also an ongoing maintenance of the standard.


Replies

ModernMech11/04/2025

The problem with corporate control isn't that they require funding or they are private, the problem is they are motivated first by profit. Sometimes exclusively. So when "what's best" is at odds with "what's profitable", they tend to make the wrong choice.

Take this project for instance. If one day their choice is to forgo all future profits, or to close the source to continue operating, it's very likely they will close the source to continue operating, rather than forgoing profits. We've seen it happen enough to be wary from the project structure alone.

PostOnce11/04/2025

Interestingly, even the Warez Scene has standards, and no commercial backing. They're enforced, too.

To see the actual standards, you can search for "standard" on https://defacto2.net/search/file

There's a free book that covers that topic:

https://punctumbooks.com/titles/warez-the-infrastructure-and...

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Kwpolska11/04/2025

Which private companies control Jupyter?