Free Software prioritizes Freedom[0]. Both permissive and copyleft licenses can support this goal. Free Software developers use a permissive license when they j

Free Software prioritizes Freedom[0]. Both permissive and copyleft licenses can support this goal. Free Software developers use a permissive license when they judge that best supports their goal of maximizing Freedom (e.g. Ogg Vorbis using a permissive license to encourage people to switch from patent-encumbered MP3). Open Source Software prioritizes quality. Open Source Software developers do not care about Freedom except as a means to that end. However, almost all Open Source Software is also Free Software, so despite this difference they end up supporting Freedom as a byproduct. Proprietary software development also prioritizes quality, but the important difference is that proprietary software actively opposes Freedom. The article is discussing priorities, so it's natural for it to compare two methodologies with the same priority, but the two are not conflated. Open Source Software still (usually) provides Freedom, while proprietary software never does, and Freedom still matters even when the developers don't care about it. [0] https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html