Is Llama 2 really open source?
Whether Meta’s new Large Language Model (LLM) called Llama 2 is open source or not has been debated since it was released on 18 July 2023. Now Stefano Maffulli, the executive director for the Open Source Initiative, has commented on it:
‘Open Source’ means software under a license with specific characteristics, defined by the Open Source Definition (OSD). Among other requirements, for a license to be Open Source, it may not discriminate against persons or groups or fields of endeavor (OSD points 5 and 6). Meta’s license for the LLaMa models and code does not meet this standard; specifically, it puts restrictions on commercial use for some users (paragraph 2) and also restricts the use of the model and software for certain purposes (the Acceptable Use Policy).