Free Software and Open Source Software: Learn the Basics and Differences
It's only a matter of time before you hear about open source software and free software if you are interested in computers, operating systems, and programming. Open source software and free software are both great contributions to our everyday life, especially for those of us who use Linux operating systems. In this article, I want to talk about what each of these names represent and talk about their differences.
I am Farhang, a programming and Linux enthusiast, and you are reading this article on my blog. If you want to read more about Linux and programming, check out my other posts!
What Are They About?
In short, both free software and open-source software are philosophies. Though, each of these philosophies revolve around their own idea about how software should be produced and distributed. While free software and open source software have so much in common that they are often categorized together under FOSS (Free and Open Source Software), the idea behind each is slightly different. That is, each of these terms emphasize their own values in software engineering.
How Are They Similar?
Briefly put, both free software and open-source software are often:
- without cost,
- publicly available as source codes,
- transparent, and
- community-based.
The difference, though, is in what aspects of engineering and development each of them emphasize.
What Is Open Source Software?
The philosophy of open source software is that decentralized collaboration will have the best outcome. When a computer software is open source, it means that the source code for it is available to everybody. Under some licenses like GPL (GNU General Public License), you are even allowed to distribute the modified software that you have made. All of this makes the development and use of software more transparent.
More importantly, open-source software makes developing and distributing software more collaborative and flexible. This collaboration is essential to the open-source philosophy. The idea is that if everybody has access to the code, then peer production of the software, whether distributed separately or suggested, will produce better and more useful software.
What Is Free Software?
The philosophy of free software, although often mistakenly thought to be about cost, is about freedom. That's why free software is sometimes also called "libre software." According to the GNU Foundation website, this better implies that the word "free" is meant in the sense used in "free speech" and not in the sense used in "free beer." This distinction being clear, we can move on to asking, "What does free software leave us free to do?" And the answer is almost anything. Basically, the freedom intended by the free software philosophy is the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change, and improve the software. Thus, the source code is available to everybody, and everybody is allowed to do anything with the code.
FOSS
As you might have noticed, the different ideas behind free software and open source software are different, but similar. Basically, a single set of actions (developing software and providing public access to the source codes) could satisfy both philosophies. Hence, the umbrella term FOSS is used to refer to software that is open source and free.
What is the opposite of FOSS? Good question. The answer is what we call proprietary software, meaning that the source code is not open to the public.
Conclusion
In this article, we talked about free software, open source software, their similarities, and their differences. If you haven't checked my blog, take a look! I post about Linux and programming, and I post every day.