this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2024
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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You mean it the other way, right? Because these companies you defend use the free labor of voluntary developers from the community, which spend hours and hours developing features, fixing bugs and what not, directly or indirectly. That's how open source works.
When these companies change the project license to a closed source one, they're basically saying a big "f*** you" to the community. Forking the latest open source version of the repository is nothing more than an effort to keep things the way they were.
Linux is FOSS, you can do whatever you want with it as long as you redistribute it without modifying the license. Android does that; every GNU/Linux distribution does that. That's how it works.
What you're describing is "freeware", what this post is discussing is " open source software". There's a giant gap between the two.
The issue started when Mr. Root Mean Square came up with the term "Free Software". It should have been called "freedom respecting software" and we would not have to deal with people confusing free software with Free Software.
Yeah, but there's also the term "freeware", which means closed source but free to use.
I'll edit my comment for clarity, thanks for the heads up.