Bit of a tangent here, but I think FOSS ideologues have a tendency to overrate the significance of software being FOSS.
We already have a Linux-based mobile OS: Android. It is open source, but it is still in practice a tool for Google to gain more control over us.
Having open source code is necessary, but not sufficient for software freedom. We also need the software to actually be designed to serve the user.
That’s why Android isn’t FOSS, it lacks the free part
The term “free software” as used in FOSS doesn’t mean software that promotes freedom, but software whose licenses allow certain freedoms. In this definition, Android is free software and FOSS.
I understood that wrong then
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Bit of a tangent here, but I think FOSS ideologues have a tendency to overrate the significance of software being FOSS.
We already have a Linux-based mobile OS: Android. It is open source, but it is still in practice a tool for Google to gain more control over us.
Having open source code is necessary, but not sufficient for software freedom. We also need the software to actually be designed to serve the user.
That’s why Android isn’t FOSS, it lacks the free part
The term “free software” as used in FOSS doesn’t mean software that promotes freedom, but software whose licenses allow certain freedoms. In this definition, Android is free software and FOSS.
I understood that wrong then