Free software community
Encyclopedia
The free-software community is an informal term that refers to the users and developers of free software
as well as supporters of the free-software movement. The movement is sometimes referred to
as the open-source software
community or a subset thereof. The Linux community is a subset of the free-software community.
or Vi/Vim
, or even what version of a text editor is superior, GNU Emacs vs XEmacs
.
Other conflicts exist over naming. These can occur because of differing opinions on historical accuracy, philosophical background or credit, such as the alternative terms for free software
and the GNU/Linux naming controversy
. And they can be caused by a conflict of business models and the use of trademarks, as is the case for the Naming conflict between Debian and Mozilla.
, Apache HTTP Server
, Mozilla Firefox
, and OpenOffice.org
, many companies such as IBM, Apple, Dell, HP, Google, Sun, Oracle and others too numerous to list, have begun interacting with the free-software community. Difficulties include the choice of free-software licences, and the selection of what software will be released as free software.
An example of a relatively successful entry to the free-software community is Sun Microsystems
' July 19, 2000 release of the Star Office source code under the GNU Lesser General Public License
and the successive development of OpenOffice.org
on this foundation. This move was warmly received by the community since it did not have a mature office suite at the time. Sun's use of the community's preferred licence was also welcome, because it allowed source code
to be shared with other projects.
An example of a more difficult entry was that of Real Networks. Real Networks wrote their own licence, and released only parts of their software suite. Most notably, the codec
—the software needed to view Real Video files—was not released.
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
as well as supporters of the free-software movement. The movement is sometimes referred to
Alternative terms for free software
Alternative terms for free software have been a controversial issue among free software users from the late 1990s onwards. Coined in 1983 by Richard Stallman, "free software" is used to describe software which can be used, modified, and redistributed with little or no restriction...
as the open-source software
Open-source software
Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...
community or a subset thereof. The Linux community is a subset of the free-software community.
Disagreements
Some arguments take on the fervor of "religious wars", such as the technical disputes from the 80s and early 90s over which text editor is better, EmacsEmacs
Emacs is a class of text editors, usually characterized by their extensibility. GNU Emacs has over 1,000 commands. It also allows the user to combine these commands into macros to automate work.Development began in the mid-1970s and continues actively...
or Vi/Vim
Vim (text editor)
Vim is a text editor written by Bram Moolenaar and first released publicly in 1991. Based on the vi editor common to Unix-like systems, Vim is designed for use both from a command line interface and as a standalone application in a graphical user interface...
, or even what version of a text editor is superior, GNU Emacs vs XEmacs
XEmacs
XEmacs is a graphical- and console-based text editor which runs on almost any Unix-like operating system as well as Microsoft Windows. XEmacs is a fork, based on a version of GNU Emacs from the late 1980s...
.
Other conflicts exist over naming. These can occur because of differing opinions on historical accuracy, philosophical background or credit, such as the alternative terms for free software
Alternative terms for free software
Alternative terms for free software have been a controversial issue among free software users from the late 1990s onwards. Coined in 1983 by Richard Stallman, "free software" is used to describe software which can be used, modified, and redistributed with little or no restriction...
and the GNU/Linux naming controversy
GNU/Linux naming controversy
The GNU/Linux naming controversy is a dispute among members of the free and open source software community over how to refer to the computer operating system commonly called Linux....
. And they can be caused by a conflict of business models and the use of trademarks, as is the case for the Naming conflict between Debian and Mozilla.
Companies entering the community
With the advent of free software such as LinuxLinux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, Apache HTTP Server
Apache HTTP Server
The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million website milestone...
, Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
, and OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org, commonly known as OOo or OpenOffice, is an open-source application suite whose main components are for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases. OpenOffice is available for a number of different computer operating systems, is distributed as free software...
, many companies such as IBM, Apple, Dell, HP, Google, Sun, Oracle and others too numerous to list, have begun interacting with the free-software community. Difficulties include the choice of free-software licences, and the selection of what software will be released as free software.
An example of a relatively successful entry to the free-software community is Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
' July 19, 2000 release of the Star Office source code under the GNU Lesser General Public License
GNU Lesser General Public License
The GNU Lesser General Public License or LGPL is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation . It was designed as a compromise between the strong-copyleft GNU General Public License or GPL and permissive licenses such as the BSD licenses and the MIT License...
and the successive development of OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org, commonly known as OOo or OpenOffice, is an open-source application suite whose main components are for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases. OpenOffice is available for a number of different computer operating systems, is distributed as free software...
on this foundation. This move was warmly received by the community since it did not have a mature office suite at the time. Sun's use of the community's preferred licence was also welcome, because it allowed source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
to be shared with other projects.
An example of a more difficult entry was that of Real Networks. Real Networks wrote their own licence, and released only parts of their software suite. Most notably, the codec
Codec
A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...
—the software needed to view Real Video files—was not released.
See also
- Free software movementFree software movementThe free software movement is a social and political movement with the goal of ensuring software users' four basic freedoms: the freedom to run their software, to study and change their software, and to redistribute copies with or without changes. The alternative terms "software libre", "open...
- International Free Software Congress
- Linux User GroupLinux User GroupA Linux User Group or Linux Users' Group or GNU/Linux User Group is a private, generally non-profit or not-for-profit organization that provides support and/or education for Linux users, particularly for inexperienced users...
External links
- The Free Software Community After 20 Years, by Richard Stallman
- International Workshop on Emerging Trends in FLOSS Research and Development, 21 May 2007 - joined with ICSE 2007
- Debian related free software surveys