this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2023
638 points (95.6% liked)
Memes
45625 readers
1164 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Foss stands for free and open source software.
You can use the code to make your own fork/version, as long it's also free and open. Or I'm wrong and somebody will correct me.
Free (as in freedom) software bares the stipulation that if you use it, it must remain free. The criteria for being free are 1. You may view the source code. 2. You may edit the source code. 3. You may distribute the source code. 4. You may distribute the modifications to the source code. If you use the software the freedoms given to you are to be payed forward to all subsequent people who use it.
Open source only says you can see the source code, but it can be used in any closed sources or proprietary program.
In short. Free software is about ethics. Open Source software is about pragmatics (or so some may claim)