4 ms·

It's 2015 and people still don't know the difference between open source and free software? As you describe it, Unreal Engine is open source.

scott_karana 12y ago
Unreal is neither. The source is copyrighted, you must pay them to see it, and you're not permitted to redistribute it, and can only modify for your own purposes (or merging into mainline) I believe.
- markdown 12y ago
  Ahh ok. That's not how he described it.
greggman 12y ago
Open Source = source is available and free as in beer. Examples: libpng, zlib, apache, python, llvm, chrome, firefox Free Software = source is available and free as in beer and copylefted (you must also release your derivatives as free software). Examples: gcc, mysql, linux, gnome, gimp Unreal is neither of these. It's not free as in beer nor copylefted. It's just that if you are allowed to use the source if you license the engine.
- vezzy-fnord 12y ago
  Completely wrong on both counts. Open source software does not necessitate any price requirements, but rights to redistribution, modification and running for any purpose without restriction. The definition you gave - "source is available and free as in beer" can still very well apply to proprietary software, if redistribution is forbidden. There actually is such a thing, it's called "shared source" by Microsoft. Free software is any software that satisfies the four essential freedoms [1], of which being copyleft is absolutely not required in any way. For all practical purposes, OSI and FSF standards are equivalent. They differ in that the former is more oriented toward pragmatics and business, whereas the latter toward ethics and philosophy. As a result, the FSF tends to encourage copyleft more than the OSI do, but they do not necessitate it by any means. [1] https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
  - moron4hire 12y ago
    And I think the key differentiator between MS-style shared source and Unreal is that Unreal takes contributions.

scott_karana 12y ago

Unreal is neither. The source is copyrighted, you must pay them to see it, and you're not permitted to redistribute it, and can only modify for your own purposes (or merging into mainline) I believe.

markdown 12y ago
Ahh ok. That's not how he described it.

greggman 12y ago

Open Source = source is available and free as in beer. Examples: libpng, zlib, apache, python, llvm, chrome, firefox Free Software = source is available and free as in beer and copylefted (you must also release your derivatives as free software). Examples: gcc, mysql, linux, gnome, gimp Unreal is neither of these. It's not free as in beer nor copylefted. It's just that if you are allowed to use the source if you license the engine.

vezzy-fnord 12y ago
Completely wrong on both counts. Open source software does not necessitate any price requirements, but rights to redistribution, modification and running for any purpose without restriction. The definition you gave - "source is available and free as in beer" can still very well apply to proprietary software, if redistribution is forbidden. There actually is such a thing, it's called "shared source" by Microsoft. Free software is any software that satisfies the four essential freedoms [1], of which being copyleft is absolutely not required in any way. For all practical purposes, OSI and FSF standards are equivalent. They differ in that the former is more oriented toward pragmatics and business, whereas the latter toward ethics and philosophy. As a result, the FSF tends to encourage copyleft more than the OSI do, but they do not necessitate it by any means. [1] https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
- moron4hire 12y ago
  And I think the key differentiator between MS-style shared source and Unreal is that Unreal takes contributions.