Re: [OSCOM] OSCOM, OSI, open source, free software (was: ANN: Magnolia 3.0...)

On 6/22/06, Michelle Heizer <[email protected]> wrote:
> Robin Millette wrote:
>
> > The OSI is not very limiting in my opinion. Last count, it showed a
> > total of over 50 approved licences, GPL and BSD included.
>
> Exactly! That proves my point. The fact that you give a number of
> licenses shows that it IS limited to the number approved by this
> organization.

I don't want to drag this out any longer, but I have to ask. Would you
prefer "open source" to simply mean "available with source", without
implying the need for redistribution ?

You see, it's the same "problem" we had with the "free software"
expression a long time ago. The words mean something specific to the
people who coined the expressions, but can also be read literally. The
only way out of this would seem to be to create a new word. For now, I
tend to identify with the definitions as provided by the people who
coined both expressions, and read "open source" in the OSI sense, and
"free software" as explained by the FSF. You are of course free to
disagree, but understand the OSCOM's position, please.