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free software
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Free and open-source software - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 25 facts
claimYochai Benkler, a Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, characterizes free software as the most visible component of a new economy based on commons-based peer production of information, knowledge, and culture.
claimThe Free Software Foundation (FSF) defines free software as a matter of liberty rather than price, a definition adopted from Richard Stallman's work.
claimThe term 'Free and Open Source Software' (FOSS) is used by the International Free and Open Source Software Law Review to cover both Free Software and Open Source Software without bias toward either political approach.
claimThe term 'free' in free software refers to the users' freedom to copy and re-use the software, rather than the price of the software.
claimFree software focuses on the fundamental freedoms provided to users, whereas open-source software focuses on the perceived strengths of its peer-to-peer development model.
claimFree software projects such as FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD gained traction following the resolution of the USL v. BSDi lawsuit in 1993.
claimEric Raymond's 1997 essay, 'The Cathedral and the Bazaar', explored the development model of Free software and influenced Netscape's 1998 decision to release the source code for its browser suite.
claimThe terms 'free software' and 'open-source software' apply to any software distributed under terms that allow users to use, modify, and redistribute the software in any manner they see fit, without requiring payment of a royalty or fee to the author(s) for these activities.
perspectiveBruce Perens stated that he felt Eric Raymond's promotion of open-source unfairly overshadowed the Free Software Foundation's efforts and reaffirmed his support for free software.
referenceSam William authored 'Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software', published by O'Reilly Media in 2002.
claimCompanies like Red Hat demonstrated that commercial success and Free software principles could coexist, leading to widespread corporate acceptance of FOSS.
referenceJoe Barr wrote an article titled 'Why "Free Software" is better than "Open Source"' for the Free Software Foundation in 1998.
perspectiveRichard Stallman argues that the 'Open Source' movement misses the point of 'Free Software' in an essay published by the Free Software Foundation.
claimTom Shea described free software as a 'junkyard of software spare parts' in an article published on June 23, 1983.
referenceDavid A. Wheeler wrote 'Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS, or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!' in 2014.
referencePeter H. Salus wrote 'A History of Free and Open Source', published on Groklaw in 2005.
referenceThe Government of Kerala, India, established a policy on the role of open or free software in its State IT Policy of 2001.
referenceThe Free Software Foundation (FSF) defines the 'Four Essential Freedoms' of free software as: (0) The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose; (1) The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (access to source code is a precondition); (2) The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others; (3) The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (access to source code is a precondition).
claimFOSS is an inclusive term that encompasses both free software and open-source software, which share similar development models but possess distinct cultures and philosophical backgrounds.
claimFree and open-source software (FOSS) is an inclusive umbrella term that encompasses both free software and open-source software.
claimThe Free Software Foundation advocates for the free software model and suggests that users should think of 'free' as in 'free speech', not as in 'free beer'.
claimThe term 'Free and Open Source Software' encompasses both Free Software as defined by the Free Software Foundation and Open Source Software as defined by the Open Source Initiative.
referenceFLOSS is an umbrella term covering a diversity of software types and development approaches, though the distinction between free software and open-source software remains sometimes controversial due to differences between the two development communities.
accountRichard Stallman launched the GNU Project in 1983 at MIT with the goal of developing a complete Free software operating system and restoring user freedom.
measurementAs of August 2017, the Free Software Foundation's definition of free software is published in 40 languages on the GNU Project website.
Open-source software - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 15 facts
claimDevelopers use the terms 'Free and Open Source Software' (FOSS) or 'Free/Libre and Open Source Software' (FLOSS) to describe open-source software that is also free software.
referenceRichard M. Stallman and Joshua Gay's 2002 book 'Free software, free society' outlines the philosophy and principles of the free software movement.
claimThe Free Software Foundation considers free software to be a subset of open-source software, noting that software like DRM-restricted software can be developed as open source but does not qualify as free software.
referenceD. M. Berry (2004) published 'The Contestation of Code: A Preliminary Investigation into the Discourse of the Free Software and Open Software Movement' in Critical Discourse Studies, analyzing the discourse surrounding these movements.
perspectiveRichard Stallman, leader of the Free software movement and member of the Free Software Foundation, opposes applying the term 'open source' to what he refers to as 'free software,' considering the equation of the two terms incorrect and misleading.
claimRichard Stallman believes the main difference between the terms 'open source' and 'free software' is that the choice of term signals the user's goals: development (open source) or a social stance (free software).
quoteRichard Stallman described the term 'free software' as 'free as in free speech, not free beer,' meaning the term refers to freedom rather than price.
claimThe Open Source Initiative definition differs from the free software definition because it allows the inclusion of proprietary software and permits more liberties in its licensing.
perspectiveRichard Stallman maintains a preference for the original concept of free software because it takes a strong moral stance against proprietary software, despite the overlap between free software and open source in terms of software operation.
claimThe term 'free software' has been criticized for the ambiguity of the word 'free,' which was seen as discouraging for business adoption, and for the historical ambiguous usage of the term.
claimFree software can be developed according to purely technical requirements without the commercial pressures that often degrade software quality.
perspectiveRichard Stallman argues in his 2007 essay 'Why "Free Software" is better than "Open Source"' that the term 'Free Software' is philosophically superior to 'Open Source' because it emphasizes user freedom over development methodology.
accountThe term 'open source' was suggested by Christine Peterson in 1998 at a meeting of free software supporters to rebrand the movement and emphasize the business potential of sharing and collaborating on software source code.
claimThe Open Source Initiative (OSI) was created by supporters of free software who felt the name 'free software' was confusing to newcomers and hindered industry interest.
referenceThe book "Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman", edited by Joshua Gay and published by GNU Press in 2002, collects essays by Richard M. Stallman regarding free software.
Open-source license - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 4 facts
claimUsers of free software are required to accept the disclaimer of warranty and liability as a condition of use.
claimThe term 'open source' was coined in the 1990s as an alternative label for free software, accompanied by specific criteria to determine license coverage.
claimThe terms 'free software' and 'open-source software' reflect different underlying values rather than a legal difference.
perspectiveEric S. Raymond advocated for the term 'open source' over 'free software' because he believed 'open source' was more appealing to businesses and better reflected the tangible advantages of free and open-source software development.
Open-source hardware - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia smoothieware.github.io Apr 15, 2016 3 facts
procedureTo receive the 'Respects Your Freedom' certification from the Free Software Foundation, a seller must use FSF-approved terminology in all product-related publications, including packaging, manuals, web pages, and marketing materials. Specifically, the seller must use the term 'GNU/Linux' for any operating system including GNU and Linux, and must discuss 'free software' more prominently than 'open source'.
quoteRichard Stallman stated on linuxtoday.com: "I see no social imperative for free hardware designs like the imperative for free software."
claimIn a 2015 Wired article, Richard Stallman adapted his viewpoint on open-source hardware, acknowledging its importance while maintaining that there is no ethical parallel between free software and free hardware.
What is open source software? oss-watch.ac.uk May 1, 2005 3 facts
claimThe Free Software Foundation uses the term "free software," which predates "open source software" and emphasizes ethical freedoms associated with the software.
perspectiveSome individuals prefer the term "free software" and choose not to associate themselves with the term "open source."
claimFreeware is defined as software that can be acquired at no cost, but for which the source code may not be available, and it is distinct from free software.
Open Source Software: What is OSS? - Sonatype sonatype.com 3 facts
claimFLOSS is a neutral umbrella term that encompasses both the "free software" and "open source" perspectives.
perspectiveThe term "free software" emphasizes user freedoms as a matter of principle, while the term "open source" focuses on the practical benefits of collaborative development.
claimThe terms "open source," "free software," and "FLOSS" (Free/Libre and Open Source Software) are often used interchangeably.
What is Open Source Software? - HotWax Systems hotwaxsystems.com Aug 11, 2025 2 facts
accountIn 1998, a group of technologists rebranded the 'free software' philosophy as 'open source' to preserve the core principles while framing them in a way that resonated with enterprises.
claimThe term 'free software' caused confusion because many people mistook 'free' to mean zero cost rather than freedom of control, which made businesses hesitant to adopt it.
The Open Source Definition - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 2 facts
perspectiveThe Open Source Definition is effectively identical to the definition of free software, but it is motivated by more pragmatic and business-friendly considerations.
perspectiveThe Open Source Initiative (OSI) prefers the label "open source" over "free software" because it felt that the latter term had undesirable ideological and political freight, and it wanted to focus on the pragmatic and business-friendly arguments for open-source software.
Archetypes of open-source business models | Electronic Markets link.springer.com Jun 14, 2022 2 facts
claimThe Open Source Initiative was founded with the goal of popularizing open source software and defining distribution terms that were more adaptable for commercial use than the previous 'Free Software' definition.
claimThe 'Free Software' definition led to a common misperception that software based on open and 'free' source code could not be monetized.
What Is Open Source Software? - IBM ibm.com 2 facts
claimThe term 'open source' was adopted in 1999 because many felt that Richard Stallman’s term 'free software' inaptly emphasized 'free of cost' as the principal value of the software.
claimThe terms 'free software,' 'open source software,' 'free and open source software,' and 'free or libre-open source software' all refer to software with source code available for public use and customization.
Governance of open source software: state of the art - Springer Nature link.springer.com Jun 9, 2007 1 fact
claimWhile only a minority of hackers are staunch supporters of free software as a public good, a large majority of open source software projects choose to operate under GPL conditions.
Intro to Open Source Hardware, OSHWA & Open ... - GitHub raw.githubusercontent.com 1 fact
claimA program is classified as free software if users possess four essential freedoms, which include the freedom to run the program as they wish for any purpose and the freedom to study how the program works.
Open Hardware Licenses - P2P Foundation Wiki wiki.p2pfoundation.net Jun 17, 2015 1 fact
claimThe copyleft principle is essential for the success of free software because it ensures all versions of a software or document remain free, preventing companies from creating proprietary, non-free versions of free programs.
Open-source hardware - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 1 fact
perspectiveIn a 2015 article in Wired Magazine, Richard Stallman acknowledged the importance of free hardware but maintained that it lacks an ethical parallel with free software.