There are lot of confusion about the words Free Software, Open Source and Freeware. I try my best with my limited knowledge to explain things in layman's terms so that people from non-technical background too can understand.
1. Free Software (கட்டற்ற/சுதந்திர மென்பொருள்)
Many people confuse that Free Software is the one that is available for free of cost. But that is not true. Most free software are available for free of cost but the word "free" in the free software stands for freedom. Free software respects your freedom by allowing you to study the code, modify the code, redistribute or sell the copy or modified copy to whomever you want and to give back your changes to the community. All of these good things come with one condition. If you modify the code of a free software, your code should also be released to the public (whenever the modified version is distributed). So with all these good intentions, Free Software becomes the morally superior choice of software for anyone! If you are a programmer, then you should release your code under GPL v3 or any other FSF approved software license to protect your and everybody's freedom. If you are an ordinary user, still you can help Free Software movement by using free software alternatives, avoiding proprietary software, reporting bugs, helping with translation, asking for new functionalities, donating money and by introducing others to use free software.
2. Open Source (திறந்த ஆணைமூல மென்பொருள்)
These are the software in grey area. These software have their source code open but the motive may be different than respecting user freedom. For example, a company may throw a small tool as open source to boast about the code quality and by that gain popularity. Or else they can give a software as open source but the software needs to consume their service which may be paid or ad supported (as in the case of Android). Still some other companies release their outdated or hard to maintain projects as open source so that the community will take over bug-fixing and enhancing the same. There are some open source licenses that restrict forking. So we can't say that all open source projects respect the user/developer freedom. And there are some developers who release their source code without any proper license and these code can be misused/abused by corporates. As the source is open, we can be sure that there is no backdoor or provision to steal your data. So not all open source software are free software but all free software are open source. Even though open source software are superior than proprietary software, they are still inferior to free software. So they can be used sparingly and if possible, the open source project maintainers should be educated to release their code with a more freedom respecting license.
3. Freeware (இலவச மென்பொருள்)
Any software that is given for free of cost is called freeware. The Tamil name says more clearly what it means. Most of the Windows users think about these software when we tell them about "free software". Examples are µTorrent, AVG Antivirus, Winamp. These are given for free of cost but with no freedom attached. For example, if you find a bug in the software, you can't really do anything about this other than contacting the creator even if you know the programming language with which the application is developed. This is because the source code will not be available. Also if you make modifications to their software there are good chances for you to get sued for "intellectual property" (which is non-existent) infringement. Also you can't be sure that these software are not spying you by collecting your data or allowing back doors to others like NSA to spy you or take control of your machine. So one should try every possible way to not to use any freeware.
1. Free Software (கட்டற்ற/சுதந்திர மென்பொருள்)
Many people confuse that Free Software is the one that is available for free of cost. But that is not true. Most free software are available for free of cost but the word "free" in the free software stands for freedom. Free software respects your freedom by allowing you to study the code, modify the code, redistribute or sell the copy or modified copy to whomever you want and to give back your changes to the community. All of these good things come with one condition. If you modify the code of a free software, your code should also be released to the public (whenever the modified version is distributed). So with all these good intentions, Free Software becomes the morally superior choice of software for anyone! If you are a programmer, then you should release your code under GPL v3 or any other FSF approved software license to protect your and everybody's freedom. If you are an ordinary user, still you can help Free Software movement by using free software alternatives, avoiding proprietary software, reporting bugs, helping with translation, asking for new functionalities, donating money and by introducing others to use free software.
2. Open Source (திறந்த ஆணைமூல மென்பொருள்)
These are the software in grey area. These software have their source code open but the motive may be different than respecting user freedom. For example, a company may throw a small tool as open source to boast about the code quality and by that gain popularity. Or else they can give a software as open source but the software needs to consume their service which may be paid or ad supported (as in the case of Android). Still some other companies release their outdated or hard to maintain projects as open source so that the community will take over bug-fixing and enhancing the same. There are some open source licenses that restrict forking. So we can't say that all open source projects respect the user/developer freedom. And there are some developers who release their source code without any proper license and these code can be misused/abused by corporates. As the source is open, we can be sure that there is no backdoor or provision to steal your data. So not all open source software are free software but all free software are open source. Even though open source software are superior than proprietary software, they are still inferior to free software. So they can be used sparingly and if possible, the open source project maintainers should be educated to release their code with a more freedom respecting license.
3. Freeware (இலவச மென்பொருள்)
Any software that is given for free of cost is called freeware. The Tamil name says more clearly what it means. Most of the Windows users think about these software when we tell them about "free software". Examples are µTorrent, AVG Antivirus, Winamp. These are given for free of cost but with no freedom attached. For example, if you find a bug in the software, you can't really do anything about this other than contacting the creator even if you know the programming language with which the application is developed. This is because the source code will not be available. Also if you make modifications to their software there are good chances for you to get sued for "intellectual property" (which is non-existent) infringement. Also you can't be sure that these software are not spying you by collecting your data or allowing back doors to others like NSA to spy you or take control of your machine. So one should try every possible way to not to use any freeware.
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