Category Steve’s Blog

Can your GPL software use license keys?

Back in 2007, Joomla.org decided to stop listing any software that used license keys. They did this because they believed that license keys were incompatible with the GPL license. Fast forward to 2015 and many (most?) commercial WordPress plugins now…

It’s the user’s responsibility, not ours

I keep hearing statements like this from open source developers: “This is complex software. If you don’t understand it, you shouldn’t be using it.” “Why not use the terminal to do this? If you’re building a website, it’s your responsibility…

Ecosystems vs Platforms

Stratechery does a good job of distinguishing between a platform (often very closed) and an ecosystem (open source software): I think there is an important distinction between platforms and ecosystems. While these words are often used interchangeably, I think of…

Saying Goodbye to Georgia

Next week we leave Georgia after 10 years. My first experience of Georgia was as a kid. My grandparents loved, loved, loved “Gone With the Wind”. They had it on 4 or 5 VHS tapes and watched it almost weekly.…

Blues documentary: You See Me Laughin’

From England originally, I’ve lived in the Deep South for the last 10 years. The South has forced me to change my mind about a lot of things, blues music being one of them. I couldn’t have cared less for…