"Open source has been a great help to us, because it helps accelerate standards. You get significantly improved interoperability and portability. I think where people misunderstand this is that it's often not the money you make from the open source code; it's the money you make around it."

“Open Source” advocate: «...I associate much more with the "Open Source" (also as Richard defines it) camp, and am open to the existence and use of proprietary software...» --

By now, you'd think that anyone who owns a computer knows about free and open source software (FOSS). However, once you move beyond techie circles, you'll find that, for many people, the concept is unknown. Even worse, when people have heard of it, they have alarming -- and rather discouraging -- misconceptions of what it involves.

By now, you'd think that anyone who owns a computer knows about free and open source software (FOSS). However, once you move beyond techie circles, you'll find that, for many people, the concept is unknown. Even worse, when people have heard of it, they have alarming -- and rather discouraging -- misconceptions of what it involves.

Landini suggest a concept "cultural subsidy". The Open Source rhetoric suggests software to people because it's of higher quality than proprietary software. But how did it ever became so? Because the Free Software advocates worked hard to make it so!

"...Free software is a political movement that is not only about producing software that’s source code is ‘open’, but it’s vision is a free society & free software. The term OSS gives too much emphasis to the source code being available, and not enough emphasis to freedom.

The market for open source and free software is surging high with its appreciation in mainstream segment also... But still the concept of free software and open source software is not clear with many of us.

"...In 1998, some of the people in the free software community began using the term "open source software" instead of "free software" to describe what they do. The term "open source" quickly became associated with a different approach, a different philosophy, different values, and even a different criterion for which licenses are acceptable. The Free Software movement and the Open Source movement are today separate movements with different views and goals, although we can and do work together on some practical projects..."

Open source software has become quite popular lately and I think it’s awesome that free software like Amarok, Open Office, GIMP and so on, are becoming so good that they not only rival their paid counterparts, but surpass them in many ways.