Calling Each Thing by Its Right Name: The Differences Between Free Software and Open Source

• Guilmour Rossi CESAR http://orcid.org/0009-0003-1546-8263
• Leonardo Bochnia UTFPR

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/latinoware.2024.245353

Abstract

This article aims to clarify the differences between the definitions and meanings of the terms "free software" and "open source." Through a literature review and historical events, we will analyze the construction and conception of these terms, highlighting how they emerged, were conceptualized, and how their use was appropriated by specialized literature, academia, and the market. The text also emphasizes the near-revisionist movement to eliminate the idea of free software in today’s software development landscape, underscoring the intention behind the creation of the term "open source" as an attempt to attract the software industry, which at the time resisted the adoption of the free software concept. The text concludes that, despite the conceptual similarities in encompassing software licenses, the terms present profound differences. These differences range from their creation objectives, the communities that support them, and the ideology of freedom that each represents.

Keywords: free software, open source, technopolitics

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