[SNIP]
This implies that those having easier ability or will to maintain the product are the effective owners of it. as in a rapidly changing environment, software rot takes care of static code bases.
Exactly. There is a saying from Dune:
"Whoever has the power to destroy a thing, owns that thing."
(The case in point being melange.)
The community has the power to effectively destroy the ASF's codebase by defecting and reforming elsewhere, leaving the ASF project dormant.
Conversely, the ASF cannot destroy the codebase, since the community can just set up shop somewhere else under a new brand.
Meanwhile, the ASF cannot create or maintain the codebase itself, since it has neither the resources nor the will.
So, while the static copyright and the brand belong to the ASF, the living codebase belongs to the community that supports it.
-Ted.
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