Freeriding and Rebellion: An Investigation of Open Source Vendor Relicensing and Member Hard Forking Events

Abstract

ABSTRACT Open source engagement is an ongoing effort in which members continuously interact with evolving project dynamics. Engagement extends beyond writing code or setting policy; it is a shared practice of understanding, negotiating, and adapting to the social and technical structures that define a project. As members continually evaluate their project engagement, collective action threats may arise that impact the overall functioning and sustainability of a project. In our research, we investigate collective action threats and governance practices in relation to a recent trend of vendor defined licence changes that result in project members creating hard forks. Drawing on a netnographic analysis of three cases, Elasticsearch → OpenSearch, Terraform → OpenTofu, and Redis → Valkey, we develop theoretical and practical insights into what collective action threats and governance practices are present, their relationships, and who is involved in them within open source projects that experience relicensing and related hard fork events. Our research provides theoretical and practical implications that show how freeriding accusations become the justification for unilateral, non‐incremental adaptation to a project's boundary regulation and how these governance changes are tied to rebellion as project members reposition themselves within shifting open source landscapes and realign their future open source project engagements.