[email protected] wrote:
There's open source software, and there's free software.
As others have pointed out, requiring something in exchange for a copy
of a program does not exclude a program from being free software.
If you'd like to know what does distinguish Free Software from Open
Source, I suggest you read two essays:
An older essay:
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html
A newer essay:
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html
Both essays are on the same topic -- distinguishing Free Software from
Open Source. I think you'll find there are many differences:
- starting date,
- who's involved,
- why each began,
- what each has said about the other,
- who is the target audience for each,
- and the most important difference: what each has to say about a user's
software freedoms and the practical (sometimes radically different)
results from those philosophical choices.
They're certainly not the same, the differences matter (particularly
because they sometimes lead to radically different results), and the
differences can be seen on the ground today.
