Meta has spent the last two years positioning itself as the champion of open source AI. Zuck's narrative is consistent: Llama models are released to the public (with restrictions, but still), and Meta frames itself as the counterweight to OpenAI and Google's walled gardens. The branding works. Developers buy it.
Then this lands. The Heretic Free Software Project — an independent open source effort — received a legal notice from a firm representing Meta Platforms, Inc. The Heretic team posted about it publicly on r/LocalLLaMA, and the post rocketed to 624 upvotes and 104 comments within hours. The community isn't confused. They see exactly what this is.
Here's the pattern: Meta releases models under licenses that look open but come with usage restrictions and acceptance terms that real open source licenses don't have. The OSI has repeatedly said Llama's license doesn't qualify as open source. Meanwhile, when an actual free software project does something Meta doesn't like — whatever that is — the legal machinery spins up. Open source as marketing, not principle.
The irony writes itself. Meta built its AI reputation on the goodwill of the open source community. Now it's using the same legal apparatus it claims to oppose to threaten members of that community. The brain cramp is earned.