The fine line between open source and proprietary code can easily get blurry, especially given the ambiguous and sometimes conflicting decisions handed down by US courts regarding the GNU General Public License (GPL) 2.0. Of the few developers that I personally know, I cannot think of a single one who has not blamed another for stealing proprietary or otherwise closed source code. This especially holds true in the world of custom Android ROM development, where AOSP forms the framework of the OS, yet hardware-based drivers and blobs, as well as kernel modules, are often built on a proprietary or vendor-specific codebase. Open source platforms governed by the GPL's free use policies cannot, by their very nature, be "stolen" or otherwise infringed upon by a third person. This is because anybody who opts to use open source code as a framework for custom software must reciprocate by likewise making their customized code available to the general public. It's simply one of the risks of using an open source platform.
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Re: Former Citra Dev Says Team Behind 3DS Emulator Lemonade Stole His Code
The fine line between open source and proprietary code can easily get blurry, especially given the ambiguous and sometimes conflicting decisions handed down by US courts regarding the GNU General Public License (GPL) 2.0. Of the few developers that I personally know, I cannot think of a single one who has not blamed another for stealing proprietary or otherwise closed source code. This especially holds true in the world of custom Android ROM development, where AOSP forms the framework of the OS, yet hardware-based drivers and blobs, as well as kernel modules, are often built on a proprietary or vendor-specific codebase. Open source platforms governed by the GPL's free use policies cannot, by their very nature, be "stolen" or otherwise infringed upon by a third person. This is because anybody who opts to use open source code as a framework for custom software must reciprocate by likewise making their customized code available to the general public. It's simply one of the risks of using an open source platform.