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+<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
+<!-- Parent-Version: 1.84 -->
+<title>Hackathons should insist on free software
+- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
+ <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/hackathons.translist" -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
+<h2>Why hackathons should insist on free software</h2>
+
+<p>Hackathons are an accepted method of giving community support to
+digital development projects. The community invites developers to
+join an event which offers an encouraging atmosphere, some useful
+resources, and the opportunity to work on useful projects. Most
+hackathons choose the projects they will support, based on stated
+criteria.</p>
+
+<p>Hackathons fit the spirit of a community in which people take an
+attitude of cooperation and respect towards each other. The software
+that accords with this spirit is free (libre) software, <a
+href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free as in freedom</a>.
+Free software carries a license that gives its users (including
+programmers) freedom to cooperate. Thus, hackathons make sense within
+the free software community. <a
+href="/philosophy/free-hardware-designs.html">Hardware
+design projects</a> also can and ought to be free.</p>
+
+<p>Respect for freedom can't be taken for granted. On the contrary, we
+are surrounded by companies that shamelessly release proprietary
+(nonfree) software, available for use only to those that will yield to
+their power. These companies develop software as a <a
+href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">means
+to dominate and control others</a>.</p>
+
+<p>These companies' harmful success inspires young developers to follow
+their example by developing their own programs or hardware designs to
+dominate users. They sometimes bring their projects to hackathons,
+seeking the community's support while rejecting the community's
+spirit: they have no intention of returning cooperation for
+cooperation. Hackathons which accept this undermine the community
+spirit that they are based on.</p>
+
+<p>Some perverse hackathons are specifically dedicated to aiding the
+computing of certain companies: in some cases, <a
+href="https://www.beyondhackathon.com/en">European</a> and <a
+href="http://www.hackathon.io/rbc-digital">Canadian banks</a>, and
+<a href="http://expediaconnectivity.com/blog#madrid-hackathon-winners">
+Expedia</a>. While they don't explicitly say, the announcements give the
+impression that they aim to promote development of some nonfree
+software, and that attendees are meant to help these non-charitable
+projects.</p>
+
+<p>Those examples show how far down the slope hackathons can slide.
+Let's return to the more common
+case of a hackathon that is not specifically commercial, but accepts
+projects that are proprietary.</p>
+
+<p>When a developer brings a project to a hackathon, and doesn't say
+whether it will be free, that is not overt opposition to the community
+spirit, but it undermines that spirit. Hackathons should strengthen
+the community spirit they are based on, by insisting that hackathon
+projects commit to release in accord with that spirit.</p>
+
+<p>This means telling developers, &ldquo;So that you deserve our support and
+help, you must agree to give the community the use of your project's
+results in freedom, if you ever consider them good enough to use or
+release.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As an individual hackathon participant, you can support this
+principle: before joining in any hackathon project, ask &ldquo;What license
+will you publish this under? I want to be sure this will be free
+(libre) before I join in developing it.&rdquo; If the developers of the
+project say that they will choose the license later, you could respond
+that you will choose later whether to participate. Don't be shy&mdash;if
+others hear this discussion, they may decide to follow the
+same path.</p>
+
+<p>To see which licenses are free licenses, see <a
+href="/licenses/license-list.html">the GNU license
+list</a>. Most &ldquo;open source&rdquo; licenses are free, but <a
+href="/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">some
+open source licenses are nonfree because they are too restrictive</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Firmness by individuals has an effect, but a policy of the hackathon
+itself will have a bigger effect. Hackathons should ask each
+participating project to pledge to follow this rule:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<p>If you ever release or use this code or design, you will release its source
+code under a free (libre) license. If you distribute the code in executable
+form, you will make that free (libre) also.</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Many hackathons are sponsored or hosted by schools, which is an
+additional reason they should adopt this rule. Free software is a
+contribution to public knowledge, while nonfree software withholds
+knowledge from the public. Thus, <a
+href="/education/edu-schools.html">free software
+supports the spirit of education, while proprietary software opposes
+it</a>. Schools should insist that all their software development be
+free software, including that of hackathons they support.</p>
+
+</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
+<div id="footer">
+<div class="unprintable">
+
+<p>Please send general FSF &amp; GNU inquiries to
+<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org">&lt;gnu@gnu.org&gt;</a>.
+There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
+the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent
+to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org">&lt;webmasters@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p>
+
+<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph,
+ replace it with the translation of these two:
+
+ We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality
+ translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection.
+ Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard
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+ &lt;web-translators@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p>
+
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+Please see the <a
+href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
+README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations
+of this article.</p>
+</div>
+
+<!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to
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+ be under CC BY-ND 4.0. Please do NOT change or remove this
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+
+ There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
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+
+<p>Copyright &copy; 2017 Richard Stallman</p>
+
+<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
+href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative
+Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p>
+
+<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" -->
+
+<p class="unprintable">Updated:
+<!-- timestamp start -->
+$Date: 2017/09/13 18:59:48 $
+<!-- timestamp end -->
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</body>
+</html>