4 ms·

This is definitely the orthodox take. If shared source code was the norm and software wasn't subject to copyright (or really if either of those two conditions w

This is definitely the orthodox take. If shared source code was the norm and software wasn't subject to copyright (or really if either of those two conditions were met), there'd be no need for FOSS as an ideology. The purpose of copyleft is to ensure that there's a permanent bulwark against code meant for the commons being co-opted by proprietary software vendors and having changes walled off from the community who created the software in the first place.

pabs3 4y ago
Source code is essential to FOSS, a public domain binary-only copy of Microsoft Windows definitely would not be FOSS. This is the second item of the open source definition. https://opensource.org/osd https://opensource.org/osd
- account42 4y ago
  Sure, that is a useful condition and is a no brainer to add if you need leverage copyright anyway. But would it be enough to spur the open source movement on its own if you could legally decompile all binaries and redistribute that? Probably not. Its not like source vs. binary is a clear distinction - between code obfuscation, generated code, transpilation, etc. there is a lot of wiggle room what should or should not be OK.
  - pabs3 4y ago
    The GPL makes it a pretty clear distinction, "preferred form for modification" is pretty clear, but decided on a case-by-case basis. Obfuscated code is not source, generated code is not source, transpilation is often not source but could be depending on how you use it afterwards, bitmap images are often not source but they can be, executables are usually not source but could be, videos are not source but could be. Some links discussing what source is here: https://www.inventati.org/frx/essays/softfrdm/whatissource.html https://www.inventati.org/frx/essays/softfrdm/whatissource.h... https://b.mtjm.eu/source-code-data-fonts-free-distros.html https://b.mtjm.eu/source-code-data-fonts-free-distros.html https://wiki.freedesktop.org/www/Games/Upstream/#source https://wiki.freedesktop.org/www/Games/Upstream/#source https://compliance.guide/pristine https://compliance.guide/pristine https://opengameart.org/forumtopic/source-required-for-art-licensed-under-the-gpl https://opengameart.org/forumtopic/source-required-for-art-l... https://wiki.debian.org/rly-free-software https://wiki.debian.org/rly-free-software

pabs3 4y ago

Source code is essential to FOSS, a public domain binary-only copy of Microsoft Windows definitely would not be FOSS. This is the second item of the open source definition. https://opensource.org/osd https://opensource.org/osd

account42 4y ago
Sure, that is a useful condition and is a no brainer to add if you need leverage copyright anyway. But would it be enough to spur the open source movement on its own if you could legally decompile all binaries and redistribute that? Probably not. Its not like source vs. binary is a clear distinction - between code obfuscation, generated code, transpilation, etc. there is a lot of wiggle room what should or should not be OK.
- pabs3 4y ago
  The GPL makes it a pretty clear distinction, "preferred form for modification" is pretty clear, but decided on a case-by-case basis. Obfuscated code is not source, generated code is not source, transpilation is often not source but could be depending on how you use it afterwards, bitmap images are often not source but they can be, executables are usually not source but could be, videos are not source but could be. Some links discussing what source is here: https://www.inventati.org/frx/essays/softfrdm/whatissource.html https://www.inventati.org/frx/essays/softfrdm/whatissource.h... https://b.mtjm.eu/source-code-data-fonts-free-distros.html https://b.mtjm.eu/source-code-data-fonts-free-distros.html https://wiki.freedesktop.org/www/Games/Upstream/#source https://wiki.freedesktop.org/www/Games/Upstream/#source https://compliance.guide/pristine https://compliance.guide/pristine https://opengameart.org/forumtopic/source-required-for-art-licensed-under-the-gpl https://opengameart.org/forumtopic/source-required-for-art-l... https://wiki.debian.org/rly-free-software https://wiki.debian.org/rly-free-software