James Hall: Open source software in the real world

“In the first part of this article, I discussed the differences
between Free software, and OpenSource software. In a Venn Diagram,
these are concentric rings. The definition of “free software” lives
within the definition of “open source software”, which itself sits
within the space of all kinds of software. That is, free software
is a subset of open source software. So for the rest of this post,
let me use the term “open source software” generically.

“Let’s look at open source software using a real-world example.
To me, the FreeDOS Project will always be the first example I look
to, so I’ll use that. It should speak to the commitment of the open
source software community that FreeDOS continues under active (if
slow) development 15 years after it was conceived. How has FreeDOS
held the interest of its users? Because FreeDOS embodies the
important qualities that an open source project must possess in
order for it to succeed.”

Complete Story