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Re: Irfanview, a better example: was: Re: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?
Subject:Re: Irfanview, a better example: was: Re: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered? From:Rachel Rawlings <rachel -at- scrivovivo -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Sun, 21 Aug 2005 22:15:45 -0400
Lou Quillio wrote:
>That's right. It's also not open-source. It's free (or nearly so),
>and if you write to Irfan he'll tell you how to write plugins for
>it, but that's as 'open' as his source gets.
>
>
>
Since there's been some confusion about freeware vs. open source, and
because I just saw we've been instructed to restrict the topic to
technical communication issues, I think it's essential that we take care
of some definitions.
/Free software/ is software that conforms to the goals and philosophies
of the Free Software Foundation (fsf.org) and is licensed under a
version of the GNU Public License. Source must be made available to
anyone using the program, and users must be allowed to make any changes
they wish, but there is no barrier to selling the product.
/Open Source software/ is a superset of free software, one which allows
for a broader set of licenses. The term was created not only for this
purpose but to end the constant confusion of "free software" with
"freeware," below. The acronyms FOSS and FLOSS, the latter meaning
"Free/Libre/Open Source Software" and the former only lacking "libre"
are used to prevent holy wars between Stallman's adherents and the rest
of the open source community. Open source licenses are certified as
conforming to a minimum set of criteria by the Open Source Initiative
(opensource.org).
The FLOSS community's desire and expectation to have source code comes
from being a descendant of Unix and other mainframe systems, in which
the source was part of the product sold by DEC, IBM, et al., and where
programmers and system administrators routinely traded code patches over
networks while the rest of us were still on BBSes or in diapers.
/Freeware/ is software that is made publicly available at no price, but
for which the source code remains proprietary. While there are many
great freeware utilities for Mac and Windows users, the idea of having
freeware in the Unix/Linux community is looked upon as silly.
/Shareware/ is proprietary software which can be acquired at no or
little cost, but for which the developer requests a fee from the user;
this fee may be required in order to unlock features or access a support
forum. Most shareware and freeware programs are utilities with a single
developer or a handful; there's no functional difference but the price.
Interestingly, of all the licensing schemes available to open source and
proprietary developers, it's the free and open source license standards
which demand that there be no distinction between commercial and
personal use.
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