The place were the code is published is private. Not the code itself.
If the code was private, it couldn't be open sourced, that's called proprietary code. Good luck with winning any future arguments with cheap semantic tricks
If the code was private, it couldn't be open sourced, that's called proprietary code. Good luck with winning any future arguments with cheap semantic tricks
If you want to have an entirely separate argument about what Core do with their code, you're more than welcome to. They are free to publish whatever code they wish and no one is in a position to stop them. They are also free to accept or deny code contributions from any individual and no one is in a position to stop them. In fact, I'm pretty sure we agree on that part.
But the argument you originally made is that Bitcoin is not a free and open market. This is disproven by the simple fact that there are competing Bitcoin protocols right now. Anyone is free to release their own implementation of the Bitcoin client with any modifications they so choose. If the market decides overwhelmingly that the modified code is superior, that's the code Bitcoin then adopts. It's beautiful. I wouldn't change it for the world.