The Free Desk / Section 01
Free & Open Source
What the words mean and who pays. Everything in this section is written to still be true in ten years — no rankings, no “best of”, no dates.
In this section
5 pieces · 25 minutes of reading in total.
- EXPLAINER What “Free” Actually Means in Free SoftwareFree as in price and free as in permission overlap often enough to confuse. The licence settles it.
- REFERENCE The Licences, Told ApartFive licences, and the two cells in the table most arguments are really about.
- ESSAY What Open Source Changes About TrustBeing able to read the source is not the same as anyone having read it.
- EXPLAINER Who Pays for Software Nobody SellsFoundations, sponsors, dual licensing and the maintainer working evenings.
- REFERENCE Reading a Licence Without a Law DegreeWhere to look first, and the three questions that answer most of it.
The other shelves
Four more sections