Re: Perl and open source

To dodge the actual question and comment on part of the original article...

I'm not sure that (a) "Free beer" is a key component of open source, and (b) the right to redistribute can be characterised as "free beer".

The way I see it, the right to redistribute is part of the "libre" aspect, and the fact that OSS can be Free As In Beer is simply a result of the more fundamental aspects.

Apologies for going off at a tangent and opening up one of those old cans of worms...

Comment on Re: Perl and open source

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Re^2: Perl and open source by apotheon (Deacon) on Nov 15, 2004 at 19:06 UTC
Actually, you make a very good point. The "free beer" result of open source licenses is simply a side-effect of the "free speech" aspect. Redistribution is allowed with open source, though there is no restriction on what sort of fees one might ask to distribute it. The fact that those to whom you distribute it have the right to modify and/or redistribute as they see fit ensures that somewhere down the road someone is going to distribute it for free, if it is worth redistributing. As a result, "free as in speech" becomes "free as in beer". - apotheon CopyWrite Chad Perrin	[reply]

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Re^2: Perl and open source
by apotheon (Deacon) on Nov 15, 2004 at 19:06 UTC

Actually, you make a very good point. The "free beer" result of open source licenses is simply a side-effect of the "free speech" aspect. Redistribution is allowed with open source, though there is no restriction on what sort of fees one might ask to distribute it. The fact that those to whom you distribute it have the right to modify and/or redistribute as they see fit ensures that somewhere down the road someone is going to distribute it for free, if it is worth redistributing. As a result, "free as in speech" becomes "free as in beer".

- apotheon
CopyWrite Chad Perrin

[reply]