Let the agents democratize open source

David Heinemeier Hansson’s case is that open source spent decades winning everyone the right to change software, and that the projects now barring AI-assisted contributions are quietly deciding “everyone” had limits. He opens on exactly that:

The open source movement spent decades fighting for everyone’s right to change software, through free access to code and permissive licenses to release improvements. But at the dawn of the AI revolution, as this mission is finally being broadly fulfilled, it’s clear that “everyone” never actually meant everyone to some.

The examples are listed rather than examined: Flathub, Zig’s code of conduct, NetBSD’s developer guidelines, offered as evidence that projects big and small are erecting participation barriers. His reading of the motive is unkind, and deliberately so, borrowing Orwell for all programmers are equal, but some programmers are more equal than others and putting the resistance down to insecurity and privilege.

Worth knowing what this is before reading: a short argument from principle, not a workflow post. He gives no figures, no examples of his own agent use, and does not say what policy Rails or his other projects follow. Armin Ronacher’s numbers from the week before are the counterweight.