Levels of Openness

Open source claimed by someone as open source is not open source if:

• First and foremost - since this is the fake that applies to most of the impostors - If it restricts commercial use, such as by the NC Clause in Creative Commons licenses - it is not open source.

• Note that making money provides a positive feedback loop for people to make livelihood based on open source - and this right should not be abridged if we care about general human welfare. In practice, when someone uses open source there is a good chance that they will contribute to a project out of good will. Thus, people should be encouraged to participate by allowing them to use content for commercial purposes. Livelihood based on open source is a good thing.

Something is authentically open source even if it has the requirement that derivatives are likewise required to be shared free of charge.