Figure 1 \u2013 Key events of the GRASS case study<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The license change can be seen as a moment of breakdown. Indeed, GRASS developers were forced to solve Copyright conflicts between the GPL and the licenses of several GRASS commands \/ modules \/ libraries. It is in the resolution of these licenses conflicts that we observe the emergence of the \u201ccommercial\u201d definition of FLOSS by software developers.<\/p>\n
2.1 GRASS as Commercial Software<\/strong>
\nFile formats are ways of organizing computer data. A common issue with data formats is the existence of both closed and open formats. In the first case the specifications of the organization of data inside the file is kept secret by the producer (common cases is for example the DOC data format) while, in the case of open data format the specifications are fully published [12] and open. Common examples of open data formats are the Adobe PDF\u00ae or the OpenOffice ODT format.<\/p>\nGeographical Information Systems (GISs) technologies, such as GRASS, use a varieties of Geographical data formats and for this reason import-export functionalities are required to ensure compatibility between different formats. In this paragraph we describe the conflict between the GPL license and the license of a well known import\/export library \u2013 the OpenDWG library \u2013 used in GRASS for managing the closed data format known as DWG. DWG is the native, and proprietary, format of several CAD packages including the well-known AutoCAD\u00ae. For a GIS, managing the DWG format is an important feature as many maps have this format.<\/p>\n
The library OpenDWG is a software distributed in both binary and source code form. This library was written with the goal of providing a way of manipulating the DWG closed data format by a “membership-based consortium of software companies, developers and users committed to promoting the open exchange of CAD data now and in the future” (from http:\/\/www.opendwg.org\/). This consortium is called Open Design Alliance. This library (OpenDWG) was introduced in GRASS at the beginning of 2003 as a way to enable GRASS users to use DWG maps, in particular thorough a specific GRASS DWG import command, known as v.in.dwg. After the introduction of this library in GRASS, however, the following message was posted by a developer on the GRASS Developers Mailing List:<\/p>\n
Noticed that v.in.dwg from GRASS 5.1 […]
\nuses the proprietory (sic) library opendwg. As I believe that it also needs the GRASS libraries which are under GNU GPL, this means that v.in.dwg has a severe license problem.
\n[GDML, 13 May 2003, http:\/\/www.osgeo.org\/pipermail\/grass-dev\/2003-May\/007897.html]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The developer describes the OpenDWG library as proprietary software and as a consequence describes the GRASS command v.in.dwg<\/em> as having “a severe license problem”. This is a moment of breakdown: the use of v.in.dwg<\/em>, which has been taken for granted up to that time, becomes problematic as it uses both the OpenDWG library and the GRASS library. Through compilation these two software were becoming a single software and hence a single derivative work of art. In the above message, the developer points out that this is a violation of the GPL license: in brief, for him GRASS could not be distributed in compiled form (i.e. as object code) with the v.in.dwg command. As a consequence, the command v.in.dwg was eliminated from GRASS and therefore the system lacked therefore any possibility to manipulate maps in the DWG data format. Clearly this introduced a serious limitation on the use of GRASS in comparison with, for example, proprietary GISs.<\/p>\nThe debate\/discussion around the inclusion of the OpenDWG library in GRASS \u2013 with hence the possibility for GRASS users to use DWG maps \u2013 did not end here. Almost one year after the elimination of OpenDWG library (mid 2003), one of the GRASS developers posted the following message on the Developers Mailing List, describing the terms and conditions of the OpenDWG library:<\/p>\n
To my surprise, their web site description of Associate Member terms and conditions permitted the distribution of the libraries in software that is distributed free of charge. This certainly fits GRASS.
\n[GDML, 26 August 2004, http:\/\/grass.itc.it\/pipermail\/grass5\/2004-August\/015218.html ]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
According to this developer, the \u201cstatus\u201d of Associate Member of the OpenDWG Alliance grants the permission to use and distribute the library in derivate software that are \u201cfree of charge\u201d. For the developer this is a situation that \u201cfits GRASS\u201d. In order to confirm his claims, the developer called the OpenDWG Alliance Head Quarter, asking for clarifications on the use of the OpenDWG library with GRASS.<\/p>\n
So I called them this morning. I had a good discussion with the membership coordinator with the Open Design Alliance. He assured me that the alliance’s intent was only to restrict or control commercial use of their libraries, not use in educational or free software.
\n[GDML, 26 August 2004, http:\/\/grass.itc.it\/pipermail\/grass5\/2004-August\/015218.html ]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The phone call with the Alliance seems to clarify the doubts about the possibility of using the OpenDWG with GRASS: for the developer the Open Design Alliance license scheme allows the use of the library in non-commercial software and in Free Software.<\/p>\n
According to the developer then, it seems possible to distribute GRASS and the OpenDWG library as compiled software as long as GRASS is not commercially sold. From the developer point of view this situation seems to be prefigured by the GPL license itself, due its provision of preventing the commercialization of software. Here we witness therefore a possible opposition between a FLOSS software (covered by the GPL) and the terminology commercial software. However this interpretation of the GPL license as opposed or antonym to the commercialization of software was contradicted by another GRASS developer on the Developers Mailing List:<\/p>\n
The GPL in no way prohibits commercial distribution of software (look at all the GNU\/Linux Distributions that sell GPL’d software). Free in the sense of free software (and in the sense of the GPL), does not mean non-commercial, it means the freedom to access, modify and redistribute modified version of the source code. But you have every right to sell GPL’d software, including.
\n[ML, GDML, 27 August 2004, http:\/\/grass.fbk.eu\/pipermail\/grass5\/2004-August\/015224.html]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In this message the developer clarifies that the word \u201cFree\u201d as it relates to Free Software does not mean \u201cgratis\u201d and in no way is in opposition to \u201ccommercial software\u201d. As we can see, this message proposes a definition of FLOSS as commercial software<\/em> and a clear opposition to the antonym between FLOSS and commercial software. Indeed, according to this GRASS developer the GPL requires that the software covered by different licenses needs to abide by some restrictions, in order to be compatible with the GPL itself. The Copyleft clause (terms 2b in GPL V2.0) is one of such restrictions (see for a discussion De Paoli et al, 2008). Another case is the term number 1 of the GPL, which states that it is possible for the users to distribute a software in exchange of a fee\/payment [13]. In other words, for this developer all the software covered by the GPL should be considered as a specific form of commercial software<\/em>, to the extent that developers are entitled by the license to distribute copies of the software asking for a payment. This definition (FLOSS as commercial software), states the developer, is also supported by concrete examples such as the GNU\/Linux commercial distributions. To make this clear, despite being distributed in both source and object code, the OpenDWG software can be used for commercial purposes only after the payment of a fee, whereas non-commercial use is granted by the license assumed by the Open Alliance Membership. Therefore the employment of the GRASS command v.in.dwg<\/em> by a user on a local computer is not a direct violation of licenses, however, the use of the same command is a violation of both the GPL and the OpenDWG license for a company that distributes GRASS.<\/p>\nWe can easily understand that what is at stake in this discussion is exactly the definition of what is a commercial software and whether GRASS and FLOSS in general can be considered commercial software or not.
\nIn order to clarify this confusion of terms between FLOSS, commercial software and proprietary software, the following statement (taken from the OpenDWG website) was posted on the GRASS mailing list:<\/p>\n
Open Design Alliance members have created the following free utilities, based on the OpenDWG Libraries, for your unrestricted, non-commercial use. Please note that inclusion of any utility in a commercial product does require commercial licensing [14]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This post clarifies to GRASS developers that it is not possible for them to use the OpenDWG Library together with GRASS, due to the clear commercial nature of GRASS granted by the terms of the GPL (for instance by the term 1 ). Indeed, the OpenDWG source code can be freely used, as it is clearly stated above, but only for non-commercial purposes<\/em>. Therefore we have an opposition between FLOSS and non-commercial software<\/em> and not between FLOSS and commercial software.<\/p>\nWe can see here that the idea of FLOSS being not merely the opposite of commercial software is part of a clear and well-defined strategy of developers: it is an ethnomethod that developers use to make sense and order in their world. When academics oppose FLOSS to commercial software, they impose their terminology on something that the FLOSS actors would disagree on. Several others examples could be taken from the GRASS case to further justify this statement.<\/p>\n
At this point, we propose another shorter and revealing example that clarifies that FLOSS developers believe that the antonym of FLOSS is not commercial software but rather proprietary software. These examples relate to the role of the Open Source GeoSpatial foundation (OSGeo) [15] in enhancing and promoting the use of FLOSS GeoSpatial software, including therefore GRASS:<\/p>\n
Hello,
\nas part of our marketing strategies as OSGeo we try to be careful in our
\nwording. One trap that we try to avoid is opposing Open Source software to
\n“commercial software” as this is not the appropriate antipode to what we
\nare trying to say:
\nhttp:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Commercial_software<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The term “commercial” itself can be perfectly applied to Open Source and
\nFree Software:
\nhttp:\/\/wiki.osgeo.org\/index.php\/Commercial_Services
\nhttp:\/\/wiki.osgeo.org\/index.php\/%22Commercial_Software%22<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The opposite to Free Software licensing is proprietary licensing and the
\nopposite to Open Source development methodology is closed source. The
\ndistinction here is best formulated as Open Source vs. Closed Source
\n(development wise) and Free Software vs. proprietary (licensing wise).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
[7 October 2007, From
\nhttp:\/\/n2.nabble.com\/UN%27s-program..%3A-ESRI-and-cities-mapping-td1879544.html#a1879547]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This message makes clear that a clarification of the commercial nature of FLOSS is for FLOSS developers a matter of defining what they themselves are and do, it is a matter of identity for FLOSS communities. Indeed, among the developers there is a perceived need of clarification about the precise meaning of the term \u201ccommercial\u201d: according to OSGeo spoke-persons the commercial nature is an inherent characteristic of FLOSS. OSGeo says that the word \u201ccommercial\u201d can perfectly be applied to FLOSS and that the antonym of FLOSS is what we can define as proprietary software. This ethnomethod is very much different from the depicted opposition between FLOSS and commercial software in academic literature.<\/p>\n
3. Community Building and Commercial Software: The Case of OpenSolaris<\/span><\/h2>\nThe GRASS example shows that the use of the terminology commercial software is part of everyday development practices in voluntary based FLOSS projects, and it is a way to establish what is proper of FLOSS. We can reasonably assume that the involvement of corporations in FLOSS makes it possible to think about the relationships between FLOSS and commercial software as part of specific strategic commercial plans. In this paragraph we discuss this point by looking at the case of OpenSolaris.<\/p>\n
OpenSolaris is an Operating System that sprang in 2005 from the release of the proprietary Solaris Operating System with a FLOSS license by Sun Microsystems [16], at the time one of the major global IT player. Later in 2010 Sun was acquired by the Oracle Corporation and since then the project OpenSolaris has been undergoing a series of deep changes, e.g. a fork [17]. Nonetheless, OpenSolaris constituted a major experiment of migration from proprietary software to FLOSS both in technological and organizational terms. Indeed, the Sun migration of OpenSolaris involved not only a shift in licensing models but also a shift in software development practices with the need to build almost from scratch a FLOSS community around the system.<\/p>\n
Two aspects of the OpenSolaris case are crucial for our discussion: (1) an OpenSolaris-based distribution that Sun provided to its customers; (2) the conversion of the pre-existing proprietary and closed software development into a FLOSS community-based software development. Both these two aspects show an intersection between the commercial nature of Sun and FLOSS. For instance, the definition of OpenSolaris as a commercial project is clearly stated in the first version of the “OpenSolaris Governance Proposal” [18] (later on called “Constitution” [19]) a document that details the governance mechanisms of the project. This document, in its very first sentence, defines OpenSolaris as \u201can organization dedicated to the collaborative production of open source software for a family of commercial-grade operating systems\u201d (OpenSolaris Governance Proposal, Draft 00). In this case, the definition of \u201ccommercial-grade operating systems\u201d, which was later discharged, is used to identify the quality of Sun engineering technology as consolidated in the Solaris Operating System, as shown in the \u201cPrinciples\u201d of OpenSolaris: \u201cQuality is always a top priority […] The OpenSolaris project will continue the long tradition of quality engineering established by the Solaris Operating System (OS)\u201d. It is clear that in this instance the use of the word \u201ccommercial\u201d differs in from the one outlined by GRASS.<\/p>\n
A key aspect of the OpenSolaris enterprise can be identified in the Sun Microsystems’ licensing strategy and in the licensing rhetoric used by Sun in relation to the software industry business. Such rhetoric is presented in a book written by two Sun engineers, Goldman and Gabriel (2005, p. 1), who state that \u201cbusiness is changing after the expansive thinking of the late 1990s followed by the lessons learned in the early 2000s: It no longer makes sense for every company to make and own every aspects of its business\u201d. Sun engineers believe that FLOSS is a fundamental way of conducting business in the contemporary software market where Innovation Happens Elsewhere, according to the title of the book. In other words, business is seen as a way to harness innovations being developed by others, outside the organization. Hence, the authors articulate their vision of \u201cmaking FLOSS a business practice\u201d as a \u201cvision of community building\u201d focused on enrolling innovators located outside the boundaries of the company. This creates fundamental connections between a specific aim (the business) and a set of artefacts designed to increase the participation and range of entities (the community building including both stakeholders and other software), different from Sun Microsystems, its employees, and its technology. Specifically, the artefacts meant to increase the participation in OpenSolaris community are: (1) the software licenses used by Sun and (2) the infrastructure supporting the development. Here we will focus on the OpenSolaris license.<\/p>\n
As in GRASS case, the Open Solaris license is a key artefact for understanding the commercial dimension of the system. The license chosen by Sun Microsystems for the release of OpenSolaris codebase was a brand new copyleft license, the Common Development and Distribution License<\/em> (CDDL). This license was outlined by Sun taking inspiration from another Open Source License, the Mozilla Public License (MPL). The aim of the CDDL was to build around OpenSolaris a network of entities different from that enacted by other licenses such as for example the GPL (see De Paoli et al., 2008 for a comparison between the two licenses). Sun choose a file-based license (on the model of the MPL) covering each single file of the system rather than the whole system at once, therefore this type of license is substantially different from program-based licenses such as the GPL. The specific goal of this choice is stated in the first CDDL Frequently Asked Questions [20] (FAQ) (italic emphasis added):<\/p>\n“We wanted a copyleft license that provided open source protections and freedom and also enabled creation of larger works for commercial purposes<\/em>.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWe clearly see that both \u201copen source protections\u201d and \u201ccommercial purposes\u201d are here presented as two complementary aspects of Sun licensing and community building strategy, and are clearly not in opposition. It does not matter whether commercial purposes means also distributing derivative works only in binary code: this is still FLOSS, perhaps closer to the Open Source definition than to the Free Software principles pushed by the GPL license. Again, this use of the word \u201ccommercial\u201d in relation to FLOSS is very different from what is often presented in academic literature: here commercial software and FLOSS are used together. One of the aims of Sun was to allow the mixing and subsequent distribution of OpenSolaris code files, still protected by the CDDL, with proprietary code. The most notable example is the same Solaris proprietary version, distributed together with Sun’s hardware or via a website (without support), and regulated by a traditional proprietary software Software License Agreement [21].
\nThe modifications that Sun introduced to adapt the MPL license to the creation of the CDDL are an important aspect for understanding the commercial nature of the project. One of the terms of the MPL removed by Sun was the 8.2(b). The reason why Sun decided to remove this term is explained as follows (emphasis added):<\/p>\n
We removed MPL’s 8.2(b), which revoked license rights if patent claims are made against any product of a Participant, not just code released under this license. We’re trying to build a community of diverse contributors, large and small, including commercial contributors, and felt that this section would be a hindrance to commercial adoption<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIn the above statement \u201cany product\u201d, according to the original MPL term, meant not only software code but also and in particular any \u201chardware, or device\u201d covered by a patent [22]. This term is considered an obstacle in enrolling commercial entities especially because of the limitations imposed on hardware. The crucial point of the previous Sun comment to the MPL 8.2(b) term relates again to the community building effort and to the effort of enrolling commercial contributors as well: actors interested in using OpenSolaris in their business activities or, what in the FAQ is defined to as the commercial adoption of OpenSolaris. A further CDDL FAQ clarifies another important aspect of this link between the FLOSS and the commercial dimensions of OpenSolaris:<\/p>\n
May I use the OpenSolaris source code or binaries commercially?
\nYes, you may use the OpenSolaris source code in commercial products. Note that if you distribute binaries built from code released under the CDDL, you will need to meet the terms of the CDDL and distribute the corresponding source code under the CDDL. See the license for details.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As explained in this FAQ, the CDDL license allows to use commercially both the source and the binary code of OpenSolaris, and does not just regard the binaries as in proprietary distributions. The answer to the FAQ makes clear that the commercial dimension of OpenSolaris is clearly not referred to proprietary software. Any commercial distribution of binary code derived from CDDL code must always include the distribution of the source code of the released binaries to comply with the copyleft provisions of the CDDL. This makes extremely clear the fact that the use of the term \u201ccommercial products\u201d in this instance does not necessarily mean proprietary software distributed only in binary form. In cases in which CDDL code is used together with proprietary software, however, the owner is not required to release the code of its own proprietary software. This point is again made clear in one of the CDDL FAQ, which implicitly states that it is the term \u201cproprietary software\u201d that stands in opposition to the commercial distribution of source code together with binaries under the CDDL :<\/p>\n
If I use code licensed under the CDDL in my proprietary product, will I have to share my source code?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yes, for any source files that are licensed under the CDDL and any modifications you make. However, you don’t need to share the source for your proprietary source files.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
An interesting example that illustrates the content of this FAQ is the case of Nexenta [23], a company who develops an operating system that mixes elements of both GNU\/Debian and OpenSolaris. Nexenta has a business model defined \u201cCommercial Open Source\u201d or OpenCore Model (Gulecha, 2009). This model is based on the open core OpenSolaris plus GNU\/Debian that is extended by proprietary add-ons. Their use of the word \u201ccommercial\u201d is different from the usage of GRASS developers who oppose themselves to the use of any proprietary software. Nonetheless, we also see that FLOSS is not the antonym of \u201ccommercial software\u201d, but rather that the two are part of the same project the \u201ccommercial Open Source\u201d. Such statement is close to the Open Source Definition.<\/p>\n
From the documents we have analysed and presented so far it is clear that OpenSolaris is a commercial initiative that clearly does not stand in opposition to FLOSS. The OpenSolaris business, focused on community building, was heavily based on a commercial use of FLOSS software and on the enrolment of commercial entities in the community. What is more important is that this commercial aspect was discursively constructed in Sun documents, in an attempt to delimit the boundaries of community building through the enhancement of the commercial nature and interest of the project and of those enrolled in it.<\/p>\n
It is important to disclose, however, that the constituent commercial nature in OpenSolaris is less clear than in GRASS. This is quite surprising and suggests that the commercial nature of FLOSS needs to be defended more heavily in volunteer-based FLOSS projects. Indeed, in OpenSolaris Mailing list discussions the terminology commercial software is often portrayed by participants as an antonym of FLOSS. This is something that rarely happens in the case of GRASS. For instance, Goldman and Gabriel (2005), the Sun engineers mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, use the word commercial as an antonym to FLOSS in their books:<\/p>\n
If you still don’t believe that open-source software is of similar quality to most commercial software, just take a look at some open-source software you use every day. (p. 47)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This consideration do not undermine the original thesis of this paper, but show however that reducing the boundary between the term \u201ccommercial software\u201d and FLOSS is more crucial for developers in volunteer-based FLOSS projects than in corporate FLOSS projects. In the latter cases, the commercial aspect is taken for granted as a starting point for subsequent practices of detailed definition and legitimization.<\/p>\n
4. Discussion and Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\nWe began this paper by stating how in mainstream FLOSS literature there often is an opposition between FLOSS and the term commercial software. It is important to remark that the problem of this paper was not to state that FLOSS is also a commercial initiative or a business activity (Perens, 2005), but rather to show that using the term \u201ccommercial software\u201d as an antonym of FLOSS does not mirror what is happening in the empirical field. In fact, with our empirical, qualitative and bottom-up analysis of the GRASS and OpenSolaris cases we show that this opposition between FLOSS and commercial software is not grounded in current FLOSS development practices and discourses.<\/p>\n
We use FLOSS stakeholders ethnomethods to show that the opposition between FLOSS and commercial software outline in academic literature is in contradiction with the empirical world. For instance, our analysis shows that in the case of GRASS, the commercial character of FLOSS is clearly linked with the provisions of the GNU GPL (version 2.0 and in particular with the term 1) that allows the free distribution of copies of the software. According to the developers, therefore, GRASS is a commercial software precisely because it is covered by the GPL. In addition, GRASS developers strongly oppose themselves to the use of the terminology commercial software to characterize only proprietary software. In the case of OpenSolaris instead the links between commercial software and FLOSS are part of a community building process whose aim is to enable the commercial use of the OpenSolaris code, including distribution of software in binary code only, as well as facilitating the enrolment of commercial innovators in the community.<\/p>\n
A question at this point arises: why academic literature opposes FLOSS to \u201ccommercial software\u201d (with its different shades of meanings), despite being clear that for developers they are not always in opposition? We try, in the remaining of the conclusion, to answer this question with a reflection prompted by the work of the master of Science-Fiction Philip K. Dick. In his introductory essay to the collection of short stories I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon & Other Stories<\/em>, Dick (1987) discussed two recurring themes in his work: “what is the real man?” and “what is reality?” . It is the second of these themes that is of particular interest to us.<\/p>\nThe phrase we would like to quote is the following: \u201cThe basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words\u201c (Dick, 1987). In the essay Dick argues that reality is not something that is out-there, ready to be discovered or used. Rather, for Dick reality appears to be something that is \u201cmanufactured\u201d along with the way we act in it. This vision of reality as something constructed by our actions, rather than something that is simply given, further lead him to consider that we should speak not just about reality, in singular terms, but about realities in plural terms.<\/p>\n
Dick’s position on realities helps us emphasize the role of words in the construction of realities. Indeed, what Dick seems to argue is that the manipulation and control of words is not a neutral process, something that does not influence reality. Words are not mere elements that simply represent the things that compose reality rather the bricks we use to \u201cmanufacture\u201d and sustain a specific definition of reality. Therefore, the manipulation and the control of a certain set of discursive practices can be related to the ability of manufacturing a certain reality.
\nThis brief digression into Dick’s view of reality helps us to better frame the problem of this paper: the relationship between the terminology commercial software and the phenomenon of FLOSS, given that the academic literature often assumed them as antonyms. What we describe in this paper is the process through which the use of the term commercial software<\/em> in relation to FLOSS and proprietary software is subject to control dynamics. Often (this is very clear in the case of GRASS) FLOSS developers want to free the term commercial software from the control of specific discursive practices. This is because the term “commercial” software is meant by FLOSS developers to build a specific definition of FLOSS in which the antonym of FLOSS is not commercial but proprietary software. By contrast, in the GRASS case we observe that it is the proprietary world that somehow seeks to control the use of the world commercial either in the text of software licenses or in generic discussions. In other terms, from FLOSS developers point of view, it seems that the proprietary world wants to manufacture a reality in which FLOSS is portrayed as the antonym of commercial software. In the case of OpenSolaris instead, Sun was actively trying to take control of the term \u201ccommercial\u201d software in order to pursue its community building strategy. By pushing a specific definition of community building as a commercial enterprise, Sun goals were to enroll commercial innovators into the OpenSolaris community. A clear outcome of both case studies is therefore that controlling the meaning of the term commercial software is for developers a process of manufacturing FLOSS reality.
\nAt this point there is an even more important issue that we need to emphasise: the role of academic discourse. Scientific publications often uncritically assume FLOSS as an antonym of commercial software. Given the above considerations about the role of words in building FLOSS reality, we should reflect on whether the academic discourse participates to a specific construction of reality, rather than being the manifestation of a supposedly neutral<\/em> point of view. As we show in our Table 1, several important academic publications fully contribute to a definition of reality where FLOSS is sharply opposed to commercial software and where proprietary software is often portrayed as synonym of commercial software. It does not really matter if authors have a nuanced vision of this opposition or whether they better articulate this opposition to show the different shades of meaning of the term \u201ccommercial software\u201d. The opposition still portraits a world in which FLOSS is opposed to commercial software, whereas the empirical field presents a world in which FLOSS and commercial software are instead part of the same process.<\/p>\nWorks cited<\/h2>\n
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution\u2013NonCommercial\u2013ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.<\/p>\n
Authors short bios:<\/strong><\/p>\nStefano De Paoli<\/strong> – Is Research Fellow at the ahref Foundation in Trento (Italy). Stefano holds a PhD in Sociology and Social Research, with specialization in Information Systems. He has conducted research on Free Software Licensing, Massively Multiplayer Online Games and the Future of the Internet. Stefano@ahref.eu; Stefano.depaoli@gmail.com<\/p>\nVincenzo D’Andrea<\/strong> – is an associate professor at the University of Trento (Italy), where he teaches Information Systems. His research interests include service\u2013oriented computing, free and open source licensing, virtual communities. Vincenzo.dandrea@unitn.it<\/p>\nMaurizio Teli<\/strong> – PhD in Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento (Italy), is Research Fellow at the ahref Foundation in Trento (Italy). He is involved in and researches about the importance of \u201cpractices of freedom\u201d in the processes of organizing online groups and producing technology and narratives. maurizio@maurizioteli.eu<\/p>\n[1] The software known as Freeware is proprietary software distributed gratis, usually for a limited period of time (trial period).
\n[2] Microsoft Windows, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Solaris, and OpenSolaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
\n[3] http:\/\/aisel.aisnet.org\/jais\/vol11\/iss12\/
\n[4] http:\/\/www.osgeo.org\/mailman\/listinfo\/grass-user
\n[5] http:\/\/www.osgeo.org\/mailman\/listinfo\/grass-dev
\n[6] http:\/\/mail.opensolaris.org\/mailman\/listinfo\/opensolaris-discuss
\n[7] http:\/\/mail.opensolaris.org\/pipermail\/cab-discuss
\n[8] http:\/\/mail.opensolaris.org\/mailman\/listinfo\/ogb-discuss
\n[9] http:\/\/mail.opensolaris.org\/mailman\/listinfo\/opensolaris-code
\n[0] http:\/\/mail.opensolaris.org\/mailman\/listinfo\/opengrok-discuss
\n[1] A version 3 of the GPL has been released in 2008 by the Free Software Foundation. The event described in this paper are prior the release of this new version of the license. Therefore when we mention the license GPL this refers to the Version 2.
\n[2] The division between open and closed format does not mirror the division between Free and proprietary software. In fact many open data format are realised by proprietary software companies, such as for example the well known Adobe PDF.
\n[3] In this case the GRASS developers are discussing about the GPL V.20. However, the same terms is present in the GPL v.3.0: term is the number 4. and says \u201cYou may charge any price or no price for each copy that you convey, and you may offer support or warranty protection for a fee. \u201c
\n[4] See http:\/\/www.opendesign.com\/downloads\/guest.htm
\n[5] In particular OSGeo is the recently founded Open Source Geospatial foundation (www.osego.org), an umbrella foundation that gathers several FLOSS project that have in common their geospatial nature. GRASS is one of the founding members of the foundation.
\n[6] The story of OpenSolaris is quite well known and won’t be retold here. An interesting and quite descriptive story of OpenSolaris can be read here: http:\/\/linux-kertosono.blogspot.com\/2010\/10\/history-of-opensolaris.html
\n[7] Project Illumos (http:\/\/www.illumos.org\/), a fork of the OpenSolaris project was launched on August, 3rd 2010.
\n[8] Retrieved from http:\/\/mail.opensolaris.org\/pipermail\/cab-discuss\/2005-July\/000763.html
\n[9] Retrieved from http:\/\/www.opensolaris.org\/os\/community\/ogb\/governance\/
\n[20] CDDL FAQ, Retrieved at http:\/\/openmediacommons.org\/CDDL_FAQs.html Accessed 10 January 2010
\n[2] http:\/\/www.sun.com\/software\/solaris\/licensing\/sla.xml
\n[22] See the MPL text: http:\/\/www.mozilla.org\/MPL\/MPL-1.1.html
\n[23] http:\/\/www.nexenta.org\/<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Stefano De Paoli, Vincenzo D\u2019Andrea and Maurizio Teli In defining what Free\/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) is, the academic literature has often opposed the term FLOSS to \u201ccommercial software\u201d. This opposition implies to a certain extent that the term \u201ccommercial software\u201d is a synonym of \u201cproprietary software\u201d. Contrary to the<\/p>\n
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