>I am grateful for the contributions of the community. Every Clojure release incorporates many contributions. [...] Open source is a no-strings-attached gift, and all participants should recognize it as such.
>The time to re-examine preconceptions about open source is right now. Morale erosion amongst creators is a real thing.
Sad that it has to be said. I think as a creator you need to brace yourself for the reality of what it means to offer something to the world. There is a sort of normal distribution of consumers and some can be surprisingly toxic.
- Game developers
- Authors of popular novels that have yet to finish ("GRRM is not your bitch")
- Star Wars
With a game, movie or another peice of culture, the law can hinder your fork. If you want to make the Star Wars episode you wish had existed, you have to navigate the tretcherous waters of fair use and copyright. There are also plenty of tales of indie game developers attempting to remix a game from their childhood on a new platform only to get a cease and desist as soon as the rights holders get wind of it.
You are not entitled to make money off it, just like you aren't entitled to make money off that open source project you forked.
The copyright and trademark owners may choose to ignore your little fanfic hobby. (Or they may not.)
In the case of open source software, you can fork it (or not) and--assuming you abide by the license terms--you can do anything you want including making money of it.