Building Sustainable Open Source: Legal Structure, Licensing, and the Long Game
· 19 min read
Most open source projects fail not because the code is bad, but because the maintainers burn out or run out of money. We encounter this problem frequently in the ecosystem. We represent Sigilweaver as a long-term project, and that requires deliberate choices about legal structure, licensing, and business model from day one - not as an afterthought when GitHub stars hit 10k.
This post outlines the model we are using. It's not the only way, but it's one that balances sustainability with open source values. We are sharing this in detail so other maintainers can use it as a template.
TL;DR
- PropCo/OpCo split: Separate entities for IP (PropCo) and operations (OpCo) for liability isolation
- AGPL + Commercial dual licensing: Open source for community, paid licenses for enterprises
- CLA with reversion clause: Contributors assign IP, but it auto-reverts if PropCo closes the source or sells to a for-profit
- Start strong, can relax later: You can relicense from AGPL → MIT, but never MIT → AGPL allows forking the last MIT version.
- Set up an LLC early: Code signing on Windows requires a 3-year-old business entity