Reflections on Open-Source Contributions and Proprietary Use of Shared Resources
By
gillyb
9mo ago· 2 min readenOpinion
85/100
Golden Brown
Bagelometer↗
Toasted golden, schmeared with insight. Top of the rack.
Score85TypeopinionSentimentneutral
Summary
The article discusses the evolving perspective on contributing to open-source projects, particularly in the context of proprietary vendors using open-source materials for profit. The author values sharing knowledge but expresses concerns about misuse, such as training proprietary large language models (LLMs). They propose an ideal scenario where repositories could specify usage restrictions (e.g., no LLM training, only open-weight models), though they doubt vendors would comply. The author prefers open models to ensure accessibility for all.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledFor me, I think the value of sharing with other people still outweighs the 'leeching' by proprietary for-profit vendors.
Ideally, I'd like to be able to set an option on a repo: no LLM training, only training material for open weight models, and training material for all models.
Though sadly, I do not think we could trust all vendors to respect such a flag, so now it is all or nothing.
Personally, I would select only training material for open models. Pandora's box is already open, but if we are going to have LLMs, I want them to be available to everyone and not gated by a small numb
For me, I think the value of sharing with other people still outweighs the 'leeching' by proprietary for-profit vendors. Ideally, I'd like to be able to set an option on a repo: no LLM training, only training material for open weight models, and training
