Are you using "open source software" or "free software"? Although there are different rules for free software (four freedoms) and open source (open source definition) licenses, what is not clear from these two sets of rules is:


1- Both terms refer primarily to the same set of licenses and programs.

2- Each term refers to different fundamental values.


In other words, although the terms "free software" and "open source software" refer essentially to the same set of licenses, they arrive at that set through different paths. (The results aren't perfectly identical, but the differences are unlikely to matter broadly.) Although licenses are similar, one's choice of terms may involve a different concentration of values.


Free Software and Open Source Software concept.


The concept of "free software" was developed by Richard Stallman in the 1980s. This is what software recipients are allowed to do with the software: "Almost, this means that users are free to run, copy, distribute, study, change, and improve the software."


"Open source" focuses on the practical results that such licenses offer: surprisingly effective collaboration in software development. Free software came first. Later, it became clear that free software was leading to remarkable collaboration dynamics. In 1997, Eric Raymond's seminal article "Cathedral and the Bazaar" focused attention on the implications of free software in software development methodology.


"Why open source omits the point of free software", Stallman explains: "Both terms describe almost the same class of software, but represent perspectives based on fundamentally different values. Open source is a development methodology; Free software is a social movement."


Different values? Yes. They are not mutually exclusive. Rather than agree with one or the other, many people find varying degrees of resonance with the values underlying each term.


What if someone wanted to refer to this type of software without specifying the core values Embarrassingly, there is no widely accepted term referring to neutral licenses or software regarding the values implied by each term.In other words, we lack the third term to refer to the same program and the same set of licenses, but it does not take into account the importance of that program and those licenses.


"Open source" may initially be expected to be a neutral term; However, it has developed its own implicit values.