Open-source projects are similar to trees in some ways. They live through time and slowly but steadily grow, becoming much more impressive and at some point far bigger than what people expected from the beginning.
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But they face aggressions from diseases, insects, industrial lumber and are even in competition to get the needed piece of sun not to collapse. The license acts as a protection concerning all these attacks. Following the example of the Sequoia’s tannin, the GPL protects the project from massive industrial exploitation without counterparts, and even if the people change, the tree keeps growing up.
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But even big trees may fall if the roots are not deep enough, and like the sequoias we would not even know the tree has fallen as the tannin keeps it alive for a hundred years on the ground.
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So, what kind of roots do we want now?