[ILUG-BOM] please explain Open source & free software

[Sameer D. Sahasrabuddhe]

Harshal Patil wrote:

>     i mean both of them give the source code, they allow you to modify,
>redistribute. then why is this quarrel?

As RMS said in his lecture at TIFR, they only emphasize the practical 
advantages of this kind of software while RMS is interested in the freedom 
of the users. It's basically a difference in the reach of the philosophy 
involved - free software has much higher aims than just producing reliable 
software with the help of community review.

So, maybe when push comes to shove, and it's time to fight the commercial 
world in real situations, open source people might decide to back out, 
since for them open source is just one good way of doing things; they don't 
care about the freedom involved. But the free software movement will 
continue, since that exactly is their true vision.

You can get more information about the OSS Movement from their website 
http://www.opensource.org

SameerDS.


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