this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2023
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Aren’t there poison pill clauses in a lot of OSS licenses that prevent moves like this? Could they face legal repercussions?
Technically none of the open source licenses require you to publish the source to everyone. They just require you to publish the source to the same people who get binaries from you.
But they are free to redistribute it again if I understand it correctly
I don't think it's clear cut that you can punitively change relationships because someone exercised their legal right to redistribute the code.
It definitely is clear cut that no contract that's a prerequisite to receiving the code can restrict what you do with it in any way.