Free = open source?

Categorized under Software

Some think and often use these two terms – Free Software (FS) and Open Source Software (OSS) – interchangeably. That’s not completely right. Moreover, some relate both these terms with softwares available for free of any charge. And that’s completely wrong.

Both, OSS and FS, offer free softwares but the word “free” here refers to freedom as in “free speech” and not as in “free bear”. This freedom allows users to use, study, modify and redistribute the software.

Now both – OSS and FS – ask developers of software programs to share source code with users. In fact, this sharing of source code is a prerequisite of the freedom offered – specifically freedom to study and modify the program. This requirement of – sharing source code – is also the root cause of this very confusion — the confusion that makes both, OSS and FS, look the same. In reality, guiding principals behind the two are drastically different.

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• Free = open source?