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Comment by Strom | Hacker News Reader

> I believe any developer not on Facebook's payroll still contributing to React or React native at this point has a moral obligation to stop.

I've contributed to React before and will continue to do so. I haven't seen a single reason why not to. Just because React doesn't use your favorite license? Well this may shock you but I also use and help develop closed source software. In my view there is nothing morally wrong here. What's more, it's not even clear which morals you think I would be failing by continuing to contribute to React.

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> closed source

That's not really the problem here. The problem is that by using React, even in a closed source context, you are potentially setting yourself up to not successfully make an IP claim against facebook, even for unrelated technologies.

Not being able to sue with patents is not something I give much value to. Software patents aren't even valid where I live and operate. They concern me only as far as USA has the will to have a global jurisdiction. However if Facebook wants to sue me for something ridiculous and has the USA government's global help, then Apache 2.0 license isn't going to save me, they will find something else.

Yeah and that is exactly the problem with the license.

You give up your right to sue facebook with ALL your patents while facebook only gives up the right to sue you with their REACT patent. We don't even know if there is such a thing as a "react patent".

You absolutely do not "give up your right to sue facebook with ALL your patents". People keep saying this, but it isn't there.

If you live in a jurisdiction where the concept of software patents are void, as the GP indicates, the patent clause in the license is meaningless because there cannot be any patents on React in that jurisdiction.

Is it limited to software patents? e.g. if BMW uses React in a project, and FB has a patent which covers React, then I think FB can use all of BMW's patents without paying, and BMW either has a choice of changing away from React, or not suing FB. Could be helpful if FB wants to do something with cars.

IANAL wait is this true?

The way I understood this conversation was that BMW (continuing your example) cannot sue facebook if facebook infringes them on an of their car patents but it's not a right or a grant or even a license of any sort.

I don't understand that last sentence, could you rephrase please?

Then again, Facebook isn't making IP claims against you for using React either.

> Just because React doesn't use your favorite license?

No, that's not the problem for many(most?) of us. The problem is that Facebook has decided to throw out innovative extra conditions to an old and established license. Innovation is typically not a good thing with open source licenses. It just throws a lot of uncertainty and confusion onto the situation, and for what gain? In fact, no one has any clue how this patent grant will work in practice.

If we believe the minimalist interpretation that some people are proposing here, Facebook has gained virtually nothing here. And that fact in itself makes people suspicious, because why would they dig in for almost no gain?

Because Facebook has been sued, even by big players like Yahoo. If Yahoo sues them for patent infringement, they want to be able to say, yo...what about all that free code we gave you?

Completely agree. Everyone here is acting as suing Facebook (and suing successfully) is something that will happen to all of them with great probability.

Why do you even care? It's a great framework and if you don't want to use it under the license then don't. But why ranting about they should change the license?

I can understand why FB is licensing the way they do. I also would be pissed off if I would get sued for some nonsense all the time and would take an opportunity to potentially reduce that.

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