Open Source Is Not Immune to Monopoly: Breaking Up Monoliths

Open Source is not immune to monopoly

Recent controversies involving Linus Torvalds highlight how massive Open Source Software projects can evolve into monopolies where leadership behaves like a single entity. When a project becomes too monolithic to fork, it stifles competition. The solution lies in breaking these giants into smaller, interoperable components, much like the UNIX philosophy, to ensure the ecosystem remains healthy and resilient against anticompetitive practices.

"When an organization or project becomes 'too big to fail', that is a sure sign that it should be broken into smaller pieces, and that includes OSS."