Free and Open Source Software

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Grayjay is not Open Source (hiphish.github.io)

submitted 1 year ago by rglullis@communick.news to c/foss@beehaw.org

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Today FUTO released an application called Grayjay for Android-based mobile phones. Louis Rossmann introduced the application in a video (YouTube link). Grayjay as an application is very promising, but there is one point I take issue with: Grayjay is not an Open Source application. In the video Louis explains his reason behind the custom license, and while I do agree with his reason, I strong disagree with his method. In this post I will explain what Open Source means, how Grayjay does not meet the criteria, why this is an issue, and how it can be solved.

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[–] t3rmit3@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yes, but using software is different than distributing it. Running code on my computer vs selling it.

If I tell a business, "hey, I don't like capitalism, so you can't install the software", that's very analogous to the other ethical clauses they're talking about (usually clauses that prohibit use by LEOs and military). There is a clause about redistribution (1), and it expressly specifies that it applies to "aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources", not single, standalone works.

[–] cacheson@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

There is a clause about redistribution (1), and it expressly specifies that it applies to “aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources”, not single, standalone works.

That is a weird way of wording it. In practice I doubt there are any OSI-approved licenses that prohibit standalone commercial distribution. If there were, you could trivially comply by just including a "hello world" program to make it an aggregate distribution.