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The term "free software" predates "open source" by many years. Stallman started work on free software (the movement and the code) many, many years before Eric S

• alangibson 6y ago
  It's about the sharing of code, whatever label you put on it. Terminology usually lags behind practice.
  • autarch 6y ago
    The terms "free software" and "open source" were created very deliberately to express different values. The conflict between those values has been the source of a lot of contention in the past. Nowadays there's less of that, probably because as the industry grows, the proportion of developers who are old enough to remember this stuff is going down.
  • carapace 6y ago
    No, you could always share your code, "Open" source adds nothing to that. "Free" software is about preventing technology lock-in. As in "I'll share with you but only if you agree to share with me."