• cbarrick@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Source Available < Open Source < Free Software

    These terms have specific definitions, where each greater term is more specific than the lesser*.

    SSPL is in the “Source Available” tier.

    The OSI defines the term “open source,” and the FSF defines the term “free software.” The number one term of open source, greater than the availability of the source code, is the freedom to redistribute.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_and_open-source_software_licenses

    * Free Software isn’t exactly a subset of Open Source. There are a few licenses which are considered Free but not Open: the original BSD license, CC0, OpenSSL, WTFPL, XFree86 1.1, and Zope 1.0.

    • JackbyDev
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      8 months ago

      I don’t believe we should let the OSI and FSF be the absolute final say in what people consider to be open source/free software.

      The number one term of open source, greater than the availability of the source code, is the freedom to redistribute.

      SSPL allows this.

    • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Absolutely. The source of Windows is widely made available to innumerable third parties, yet I’ve never seen anyone claim that it’s open source.

      • cbarrick@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I didn’t think the Windows source is widely available, only the compiled form.

        .Net core is open source though.

          • cbarrick@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            That’s not “source available” because the software is not released through a source code distribution model.

            Companies may have access in order to produce better drivers or handle security incidents, but those are back-room deals, not part of Windows’ distribution model.