The Free Software Definition - Free Software Definition Vs Open Source Definition

Free Software Definition Vs Open Source Definition

Despite the fundamental philosophical differences between the free software movement and the open source movement, the official definitions of free software by the Free Software Foundation and of open source software by the Open Source Initiative basically refer to the same software licences, with a few minor exceptions. While stressing the philosophical differences, the Free Software Foundation comments:

The term “open source” software is used by some people to mean more or less the same category as free software. It is not exactly the same class of software: they accept some licences that we consider too restrictive, and there are free software licences they have not accepted. However, the differences in extension of the category are small: nearly all free software is open source, and nearly all open source software is free.

Free Software Foundation, http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html

Read more about this topic:  The Free Software Definition

Famous quotes containing the words free, definition, open and/or source:

    Give a man a free hand and he’ll try to put it all over you.
    Raoul Walsh, U.S. screenwriter. Frisco Doll (Mae West)

    ... we all know the wag’s definition of a philanthropist: a man whose charity increases directly as the square of the distance.
    George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)

    Rats!
    They fought the dogs and killed the cats,
    And bit the babies in the cradles,
    And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
    And licked the soup from the cooks’ own ladles,
    Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
    Made nests inside men’s Sunday hats,
    And even spoiled the women’s chats
    By drowning their speaking
    With shrieking and squeaking
    In fifty different sharps and flats.
    Robert Browning (1812–1889)

    Discourses on humility are a source of pride in the vain and of humility in the humble. So those on scepticism cause believers to affirm. Few men speak humbly of humility, chastely of chastity, few doubtingly of scepticism.
    Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)