Open Source Software Shows Its Muscle (Law.com)

Law.com takes a look at the legal issues in using GPL'd software. "Open source software had its origins in the free software movement. By now, most open source users understand that free refers to freedom, not to price. The new lesson is that the freedom belongs to the software, not to users. You are not free to do whatever you want with the open source software and may find yourself in a legal fight if what you do restricts the freedom of the software. Many of the things that for-profit companies strive for end up limiting some software's freedom. Any activity that leverages software for business advantage is likely to restrict the software's freedom, and the growing use of open source software by for-profit companies has been a growing irritant for free software advocates." (Thanks to Uwe Klein)

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