Free Software

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What is free software?

Free software is software that respects the 4 software freedoms. The 4 freedoms are

The freedom to run the run the program
The freedom to study the source code
The freedom to modify the source code
The freedom to distribute modified versions of the source code

Please note: Free software does not relate to monetary price. Free software can be sold or gratis (no cost)

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possiblylinux127

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Ladybird - a brand new browser engine that isn't Google or Mozilla (ladybird.org)

submitted 5 months ago by possiblylinux127 to c/freesoftware

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[+] [email protected] -15 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

GPLv3 is virally open source (copyleft), BSD 2-Clause is not.

Your first statement is patently false and misleading.

Two variants of the license, the New BSD License/Modified BSD License (3-clause), and the Simplified BSD License/FreeBSD License (2-clause) have been verified as GPL-compatible free software licenses by the Free Software Foundation, and have been vetted as open source licenses by the Open Source Initiative. (Wikipedia)

Being “copyleft” is not a requirement for being open source. Maybe you’re thinking of free software. There are differences, but as the FSF is quoted, they are also very similar.

GPLv3 ensures free software remains free and contributions cannot be exploited and withheld from the community. BSD2C does not.

To my understanding, and if I’m wrong I’d love to know why, both GPLv3 and BSD2 both ensure the openness of software. They just go about it differently. GPL (I’m not super versed at v3) basically means any modifications to GPL’d code must also be GPL’d, and source made available; also, if you statically link against other GPL’d code, your code must be GPL’d. Dynamic linking (or linking against LGPL code, like glibc) does not have this requirement.

With BSD code, your only requirement is that the code (or binaries) must remain BSD2. Sure, someone can make modifications and keep them to themselves for fun and profit. But that doesn’t mean the rest of the community has to follow suit. The original code remains open and available with no license modifications. If a company owns BSD2 code, and goes under, the community can simply fork the code and take ownership as they please.

Neither license is perfect, and I’m sure we could find plenty of examples of people/companies that have abused both licenses.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You asked a simple question about "better" which is pretty subjective for whooping out the references along accusations of falsehood.

"virally open source"

Which answered the original question quite succinctly. I wish you would have read more carefully before...

[–] [email protected] -5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I asked what the OP felt was better about GPLv3.

The person who responded made provably false statements. I know they are false, because I went to look it up; which is outlined in my “[whooped] out references”.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You still don't read.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Enlighten me; what is it I’m missing?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago

GPL is virally open source, because code using it needs to also be open source.

According to your comment, that doesn't apply to BSD, so BSD isn't virally open source, and the claim is true.

The reason some consider this better is because a company can't fork the code, keeping it private, improving their version with paid workforce while also merging in changes to the original project, thus ending up with a superior version that they can then sell for profit, to no benefit of the opensource version or the people contributing to it.

There's more reasons, and a whole ideological side, but I think that's the main practical reason for using copyleft licenses, and a big one.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Nothing I said is remotely untrue, for a start. Both licenses - and their pros and cons - are well documented, well-tread territory. It’s weird that you even had to ask.

And really weird how you seem to be taking my comment so personally while simultaneously spreading misinformation, literally admitting that you don’t know what you’re talking about (“not very well versed”) AND putting words in my mouth. 🤷🏽

Like, that’s a LOT. You doing alright, fam?

[–] possiblylinux127 2 points 5 months ago

I'll just drop this here

https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

https://www.gnu.org/licenses/