[seul-edu] free software / open source

[Paolo Pumilia <xpol@interfree.it>]

Sorry with this slightly off topic letter, but i think
you can help me to clear up this point. 
After a recent discussion with 'linux experts' well known
in italy who tend to use 'free software', my 'preliminary' 
conclusion is that 'open source' should be preferable; 
here are my reasons; please explain me what is wrong.

Originally, there was no difference between the expressions
'free software" and "open source". The latter had been 
invented to get rid of the ambiguity in the term 'free'
and to make acceptance of open software by non-technician 
people easier.
In short, 'open source' sounded better to many people. 
Recently somebody claimed there are differences in princple
between the two expressions: 'free software" would stand as 
defence of freedom of programmers and users, 'open source' 
would merely point out technical/economical advanges of 'free' 
programs.

Why should one believe that statement as a matter of fact?

Ideas and principles are no private property of anyone; 
i am distrustful when the use of ideas gets restricted by 
self-appointed owners; wider acceptance of ideas should be 
supported and aknowledged as a sign of their strenght, even 
if that produces a slight blurred zone on the borders.

'open source' is perhaps less well defined than 'free software',
since it is real movement. Indeed a drawback of an 
_idea in evolution_ is that everybody is tempted to stress those 
implications he/she is most interested to; to get the full meaning 
of 'open source' one has to catch the reasons of the many 
prominent actors at that given moment of history.
As witnessed by many ongoing projects on the web, the
expression 'open source' is used in several new educational, 
economical and technical enterprises related to computer science; 
moreover it is spreading over unlike cultural contexts;
music, literacture and phylosophy are some examples. 
To me, it is obvious that the meaning of 'open source' cannot be 
entirely recovered in the OSI (open source initiative) statements; 
that is the board in charge to pass new open source licenses. 
Open source is rather what lays behind that initiative. 

Insisting on the artificial difference in the meaning of
'free software' and 'open source' makes me think the real 
difference in elsewhere. 

-- 
Paolo Pumilia