Open Source, Closed Exits
The cartoon mocks the tech industry habit of branding products as 'open' for marketing credibility while preserving control through legal, financial, and technical choke points. It targets performative openness: open enough to attract developers, closed enough to keep power centralized.
A bustling tech conference floor centers on a gleaming startup booth draped in giant banners proclaiming 'OPEN FOR EVERYONE' and 'FREEDOM TO BUILD.' Smiling founders in branded hoodies eagerly hand developers glossy pamphlets labeled 'Open-Source AI.' But the booth itself sits at the center of a towering maze whose walls are stacked with oversized patent filings, API pricing sheets, license clauses, rate-limit warnings, and 'enterprise access only' gates. Developers who entered through a wide, inviting archway marked 'Community' are now trapped inside, pacing in circles with laptops, following dead-end signs like 'Request Access,' 'Commercial Use Restricted,' and 'See Pricing.' The founders wave cheerfully from the middle as if offering openness, while every practical exit is sealed behind barriers they own.