[Linux-aus] Who defines Open Source?

Greg 'groggy' Lehey grog at mysql.com
Wed Feb 8 13:14:02 UTC 2006


On Wednesday,  8 February 2006 at 14:58:41 +1030, Paul Shirren wrote:
> Greg 'groggy' Lehey wrote:
>> On Wednesday,  8 February 2006 at  8:42:24 +0800, Senectus . wrote:
>>> On 2/8/06, Leon Brooks <leon-linuxaus at cyberknights.com.au> wrote:
>>>> On Wednesday 08 February 2006 07:53, Paul Shirren wrote:
>>>>> while Free Software qualifies as Open Source, Open Source is
>>>> [not]
>>>>
>>>>> necessarily Free Software.
>>>> Cheers; Leon
>>
>> I shouldn't get involved in this argument, and I'll try to keep away.
>> But this is exactly why I don't like the term "Open Source".  Ask the
>> man in the street what it means, without specifying context, and he'll
>> generally have little idea.  Ask him what "free software" means and
>> he'll have a pretty good idea.
>
> I like your faith in the common man Greg. Unfortunately the man on the
> street around here thinks pirated software is free. He thinks shareware
> is free and really good stuff, especially when it lets him get free
> movies and songs. He does know that open sauce should be stored in the
> fridge, but only because his mum told him off for leaving it out.

That's a different issue, one that I don't want to get involved in.
*What* he thinks is free, and what he thinks "free" means aren't
relevant: I'm just talking about the terminology itself.

Greg
--
Greg Lehey, Senior Software Engineer
MySQL AB, http://www.mysql.com/
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