"We live in an astonishing technology-based world, fueled by and dependent on software. That software provides our networks, our security, our financial transactions, our supply chain management, and, of course, the generative AI systems that are top of mind for just about everyone. But where does that digital infrastructure come from? Nearly all of it is based on free and open source software, what the industry calls FOSS."
"This is code built by enormously collaborative communities, driven by coders who use the fruits of FOSS and who also actively contribute back bug fixes and improvements. Also: How AI coding agents could destroy open source software This reciprocity of contributions back to the code is at the core of FOSS, which puts it fundamentally at the core of modern society. The amazing thing about our open source infrastructure is that it's governed by fundamental agreements about the provenance of the code."
Generative AI increasingly obscures the provenance of open source code by incorporating and transforming publicly available code without clear attribution. Free and open source software (FOSS) depends on reciprocal contributions and traceability, often enforced by copyleft licenses that require derivative works to be shared under the same terms. Provenance enables tracing each line of code to its originator, supporting community maintenance and legal reciprocity. When attribution and ownership disappear, the social and legal mechanisms that sustain FOSS collapse, threatening the commons that underpin networks, security, financial systems, supply chains, and many AI systems.
Read at ZDNET
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