Contributors and Modifications
I described in the first chapters of this book how open source development is a continuous process. Contributors and distributors enhance and improve software at each step by creating collective and derivative works. That explanation was necessary because the BSD and earlier licenses weren't explicit about it. Collaborative open source development progressed under those licenses without the licenses mentioning the process at all.
The MPL defines this process much more precisely in sections 2 and 3. Open source development starts with Original Code supplied by an Initial Developer (in the first instance Netscape Corporation, although the MPL is a template license) who licenses all relevant open source rights to ...
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