Free vs Open Source

Free vs Open Source

Posted Oct 6, 2005 9:39 UTC (Thu) by ekj (subscriber, #1524)
In reply to: Free vs Open Source by rvfh
Parent article: What Is Free Software (O'ReillyNet)

Discussing anything gets really tedious if every participant insists on bringing along his own definition of key terms.

"Open Source" as commonly used does not, as you seem to think, mean simply that the sourcecode is open for inspection. (especially not when it's capitalised like that) Instead, the most common definition is the one given by the Open Source Institute.

In short, having the source be openly available is neccesary, but not sufficient to be Open Source.

The real difference between the Free Software and the Open Source movements is, to the extent that any difference exists at all, one of focus. Free Software essentially argues we should use Free Software because it is the right thing to do regardless of if such software is superior or inferior. Open Source instead argues that Open Source software inherently or atleast typically is pragmatically better than closed, and that one should use it for this reason.

---

(Log in to post comments)