Yes, you can pay developers to stop publishing new changes. Basically hire the people developing it and stop releasing the code. Community can try to still develop it independently.
At the limit though they’d have to pay every coder with an interest in that software’s development and enough time for a hobby. I guess they could target distribution like Codeberg but alternatives would eventually fill their place.
Oh snap, I misread it as Motorola bought GrapheneOS! This is way better news than I realized! Thx for the clarification. 🫡
Edit: On reflection can FOSS even be bought since it doesn’t have an owner to pay? I’m caught up now.
Yes, you can pay developers to stop publishing new changes. Basically hire the people developing it and stop releasing the code. Community can try to still develop it independently.
At the limit though they’d have to pay every coder with an interest in that software’s development and enough time for a hobby. I guess they could target distribution like Codeberg but alternatives would eventually fill their place.