informIT: The Lure of Open Source Software: Why Consider It for Your Business?

“The open source movement began as an offshoot of the free
software movement, aimed at making free software more appealing to
commercial interests. The problem is that the English language
overloads the term free with two very different meanings, referring
to freedom and to cost. Members of the free software movement
commonly distinguish between these two meanings by referring to
free software as ‘free as in speech,’ and not ‘free as in
beer.’

“The general perception of free and open source software (FOSS)
comes from a few high-profile projects, such as Linux. They are
perceived as being written by hobbyists working for free, and to
cost nothing. But neither of these perceptions is either required
or implied by either the free software or open source
definition…”

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