Open Source... beer?

[Krug]

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,68144,00.html

 

[Bront]

Mmmm, Free Beer... *drools*

This will be interesting to watch and see what happens with it.

 

[MonsterMash]

Ah, but is it just free as in open, not free as in 'free beer'?

 

[Henry]

The OBL (Open Beer License) states that if you change the formula, you must publish your changed formula under a different license.

I wonder if they'll have enough room for the Section 15 on the label?

 

[diaglo]

we used to call any open beers left at parties... holidays.

free for anyone willing to drink the leftovers.


[homer]hmmmm..... holidays ....drools[/homer]

 

[Umbran]

Wow, that's all... foolish.

The basic recipe for beer is already in the public domain. Right up there with the recipe for basic bread, and how to make fire. This beer thing is like having a free ranging mustang, building a barn around him, then opening the door so you can claim you let him out.

 

[Jdvn1]

Theirs is a unique beer, though. Like, different brands of beers taste different--they have different recipes. You can't, in theory, make their beers because they own their specific recipes.

 

[wingsandsword]

As a demonstrator of the Open Source concept, it's one way to show non-geeks how it's supposed to work: you publish the recipe (or source code, or basic game rules, or whatever) as something anybody can freely examine and copy, and charge for the actual product made from that product. You know exactly what you're getting, and if you think you can do it better, you're quite free to try.

For another take on the same Open Source demonstrator, I always preferred OpenCola: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCola People have less of an idea on how to make Cola as opposed to beer, so giving out the recipe makes a little more sense.

 

[Umbran]

You can't, in theory, make their beers because they own their specific recipes.

Actually, you can. Open sourcing is about copyright - it's about determining who can and cannot create duplicate records of the recipe. But they'd have to patent it before they could keep you from actually making the beer.