Many people use the terms open source and free software interchangeably (they’re not the same thing) and have no real comprehension of what the GNU General Public License (GPL) has to do with, well, anything. David Gulbransen clarifies these concepts, and explains why you probably don’t actually own any software you’ve bought. Seriously!
The open source software movement is debated a lot these days. As governments, companies, and individuals struggle to find the balance between well-written software and controlling costs, many have turned to “free” or “open source” software solutions such as Linux to obtain functionality and features previously offered only in proprietary software products.
Link: InformIT
