Comment on Why do all these companies developing privatised software use the word "Open"? Real question.

• gloriousspearfish@feddit.dk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  If you can look at the source code it is open source.

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  • BURN@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Not sure why you’re being downvoted. By definition this is true.

    Visible source is still open source , but it isn’t FOSS. Not everything open source is FOSS, but everything FOSS is open source.

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    • gloriousspearfish@feddit.dk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Exactly.

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    • tabular@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I can’t imagine the downvoting being except a disagreement with that word usage. Strictly speaking words do not have definitions which are “true” in some innate sense - they have usages which are popular or unpopular among different groups of people.

      The term “open source” without any context describes “source” being “open” - as clear as mud. With context that describes a range of licenses and the disagreement is in which licenses that includes.

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      • nossaquesapao@lemmy.eco.br ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        It’s quite ironic to see people getting confused over it, since part of the justifications for the creation of the “open source” term was “free software” being ambiguous.

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    • jack@monero.town ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      This guy is deliberately being malicious

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      • JTskulk@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        There’s a reason RMS hates the term “open source”. Open source is a cheaper imitation of Free software.

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  • MHLoppy@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    You seem to be using the term "open source" for what is instead commonly called "source-available", which has a distinct meaning.

    [Source-available software] includes arrangements where the source can be viewed, and in some cases modified, but without necessarily meeting the criteria to be called open-source.

    [Open-source software] is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose.

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    • gloriousspearfish@feddit.dk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      No I am using the term for how it was originally used, back in the free software movement days in the 70s and 80s.

      Open source means nothing more than the source beeing open for all to see. What your are describing we called Free Software or later FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) but the open source part is redundant in that acronym.

      Also some started using Libre instead of Free, as Free sometimes are confused with Gratis. That is where the expression Free as in Freedom cones from.

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      • MHLoppy@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Fair enough. I suppose the terminology has evolved somewhat with time, and I can't say I have much insight into a time period from before I was born.

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  • smileyhead@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    From Wikipedia:

    Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose.

    From Open Source Initiative:

    Open source doesn’t just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open-source software must comply with the following criteria: (…) opensource.org/osd/

    AnyType is “source available”. Open Source is a term exisiting for many years with already established precise meaning and messing it up makes much harm in a world where talking about computing morality is already messed up with the lack of words in public awareness, as computer software is very abstract and need proper terminology.

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    • gloriousspearfish@feddit.dk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      You are cherry-picking quite a bit in that Wikipedia article. There is also a whole section discussing the confusion between the terms open source, free and libre.

      I would venture that the most commonly understood definition of the term is that open source software simply means what it says, that the source code is openly available. And nothing more.

      Free or libre software expresses the intention you describe explicitly, that the recipient is allowed to share and modify the software. Thus removing ambiguity.

      Open Source is indeed a term existing for many years, probably a lot longer than you are thinking about. Trying to redefine that as meaning anything more than what is says is what is causing confusion.

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  • jack@monero.town ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    This is why “open source” is garbage. Call it libre.

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    • gloriousspearfish@feddit.dk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I agree, it is much more clear. I do like Free also, but it is confusing in English.

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    • tabular@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I prefer the term libre (free software, usually say software freedom) but there is a related disagreement regarding Copyleft being more or less libre (GPL vs MIT.

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      • jack@monero.town ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Who argues about copyleft and libre? The FSF and Stallman are absolutely clear about libre meaning the same as free.

        And basically libre = free = open source when considering the rights it gives you. MIT is just as free/libre as GPL, but copyleft is the more logical choice when you value user freedom.

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  • tabular@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I assume you didn’t consider source code can get leaked.

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• SchizoDenji@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Open source =/= FOSS

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