It seems like the author is confusing open source with Open Source. The latter has a formal definition which includes a lot more than simple access to source code.
I also agree that no one is entittled to free support or enhancements, bugfizes, etc.
ambitiousslab@lemmy.ml 15 hours ago
I agree with parts about entitlement. The expectation of support and treatment of open source software as if it was proprietary is a real problem.
But, the authour makes a similar mistake - they conflate open source software with source-available (proprietary) software. As an example, I strongly disagree with this part:
If you replace it with this version, I am happy:
I think it’s really important that we keep a clear delineation between free/open source software on one side, and source-available (proprietary software) on the other.
A lot of companies are trying to co-opt and blur the meaning of the term so they can say “seeing the source was always the point, none of the other freedoms mattered”, in order to sell you proprietary licenses.
Open source gives you the right to take, modify and redistribute it. Source available does not. And that’s ok, just please don’t blur the terms together.
Likewise, this is definitionally untrue. The whole purpose of FOSS is to give you the four freedoms.
snowfalldreamland@lemmy.ml 14 hours ago
Maybe it sonds a bit like a conspiracy theory but with how often people make this “mistake” i really believe it’s a deliberate effort to undermine the meaning of open-source
sfxrlz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 hours ago
I think many people fail to wrap their head around the concept since almost everywhere else nothing is really free.
masterofn001@lemmy.ca 12 hours ago
I once had an argument in another community on here about something very similar. And they told me I was wrong. The mods deleted my posts.
I posted the links and the definition/requirements for FOSS as compared to just open source.
They kept telling me i was talking about open source and not libre.
The links and definitions and requirements I posted:
From Richard Stallman, from the site whose creators developed the rules and requirements for FOSS, GNU.org, and from the itsFOSS site which, indeed, references and links to the first 2.
The definitions also explicitly state the difference and uniqueness of each and compares them to the nonstandard open source (source available) labels.
I unjoined that community and found a less ignorant one.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 8 hours ago
The mods are definitely wrong, and they shouldn’t be deleting posts here. But you could also be wrong, I don’t have the original posts to go off of, but I do have this one.
FOSS is not the same as Free Software, it’s a combination of Free Software and Open Source software, meaning it applies to both. In long form, it’s Free and Open Source Software, meaning it applies to things applying to one or the other, and not necessarily both.
If you mean Free Software (i.e. the FSF/GNU definition), then use that term. If you mean Open Source (i.e. the OSI definition), then use that term. If you’re not sure which you mean, but you know you mean one of the two, use the term FOSS. If you just mean the source is available but it doesn’t necessarily fit the the Free Software or Open Source definitions, use the term “source available” and leave it at that.
Most FOSS licenses are both Free and Open Source (i.e. they meet the definition of both), but not all. Many Open Source licenses are incompatible w/ Free Software licenses, for example the Apache 2.0 license is incompatible with the (L)GPL < v3 in some cases.
In general:
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 8 hours ago
I would add in “automatically” there. Source-available licenses could give you the right to modify it and redistribute it, or it may not. For example, the Unreal Engine is proprietary and covered by a source-available model, and you can redistribute it to other license holders (must accept certain terms and conditions), and even then w/ restrictions. So you can take it, modify it, and redistribute it, but there are a handful of very important asterists there.
Basically, if you don’t recognize the license as one of the major ones (Apache, BSD, MIT, (L|A)GPL, etc), then treat it as source-available w/ no rights other than reading it until you actually read and understand the license.
tabular@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
The intent of copyleft is to ensure freedoms for the recipients of derivatives of your works. In software that means the users of forks. Copyleft restricts you to the same license (or a compatible one) to prevent you adding more restrictions. ““More permissive”” software licenses can be redistributed with the same license but often it’s a more restrictive license (e.g. MIT -> proprietary).
This2ShallPass@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
Yes, just because the source code is available doesn’t mean it is licensed for others to take. However, AI tools that have scraped the web for all of its content won’t see the difference between source available, open source , and free and open source. It is possible that those who use AI tools could be unknowingly using code without the license to do so.