That is what I would mean by “open source” but I can’t blame the uninitiated from thinking it means something else. Consider every-day usage of the word “open” - an open door could be fully open, just have a small gap or even shut but unlocked (“come in, the door is open”). A well-meaning developer could think Unreal engine is open source because they can see the source code (the code is “open” to them). Words don’t have innate definitions, they have usages.
Sure, but there are definitions available. If you’re unfamiliar with a term, it’s not unreasonable to search “open source definition.”
“Free Software” has a similar problem in that people assume it just means freeware, when in fact it has a very specific meaning.
Anyway, this is another good reason to use the term FOSS. Most people don’t care about the difference between free and open source software, and the term is unfamiliar enough that they’ll look up the definition.
That is what I would mean by “open source” but I can’t blame the uninitiated from thinking it means something else. Consider every-day usage of the word “open” - an open door could be fully open, just have a small gap or even shut but unlocked (“come in, the door is open”). A well-meaning developer could think Unreal engine is open source because they can see the source code (the code is “open” to them). Words don’t have innate definitions, they have usages.
Sure, but there are definitions available. If you’re unfamiliar with a term, it’s not unreasonable to search “open source definition.”
“Free Software” has a similar problem in that people assume it just means freeware, when in fact it has a very specific meaning.
Anyway, this is another good reason to use the term FOSS. Most people don’t care about the difference between free and open source software, and the term is unfamiliar enough that they’ll look up the definition.