Difference between Free Software and Open Source Software
S.No. | FS Philosophy | OSS Philosophy |
---|---|---|
Origin | It was coined by the Free Software Foundation in the 1980s. | In response to the restrictions of free software, the phrase “open source” was coined in the late 1990s. |
View on Software’s Role in Life | Software is an important part of people’s lives. | Software is just software. There are no ethics associated directly with it. |
Ethics and Freedom | Software freedom translates to social freedom. | Ethics are to be associated with the people not with the software. |
Value of Freedom | Freedom is a value that is more important than any economical advantage. | Freedom is not an absolute concept. Freedom should be allowed, not imposed. |
Compatibility | Every free software is open source. | Every open-source software is not free software. |
License Issue | There is no such issue that exists in free software. | There are many different open-source software licenses, and some of them are quite restricted, resulting in open-source software that is not free. |
Restrictions | No restrictions are imposed on free software. | Open-source software occasionally imposes some constraints on users. |
Examples | The Free Software Directory maintains a large database of free software packages. Some of the best-known examples include the Linux kernel, the BSD and Linux operating systems, the GNU Compiler Collection and C library; the MySQL relational database; the Apache web server; and the Sendmail mail transport agent. | Prime examples of open-source products are the Apache HTTP Server, the e-commerce platform Open Source Commerce, internet browsers Mozilla Firefox, and Chromium (the project where the vast majority of development of the freeware Google Chrome is done), and the full office suite LibreOffice. |
Difference between Free Software and Open Source Software
Free Software and Open Source Software are two philosophies in software engineering. Free Software and Open Source Software both have common goals of collaboration and innovation but they are distinct in terms of why they are doing it and prioritize different aspects of software development and distribution.