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Comment by organsnyder

5 days ago

They don't appear to be using an OSI-approved license, but the source code is available. So depending on your use-case that may be an academic distinction.

20 comments

organsnyder

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kstrauser  5 days ago

Its license has strict limitations on what you can use it for.

It’s not open source in any reasonable sense.

  • Izkata  5 days ago

    It is open source (the code is right there), but it's not Open Source due to what GP references. There is a distinction.

    • j1elo  5 days ago

      We're talking in English, not in Go. The meaning doesn't change that much because of using uppercase initials. What you're referring to has already been consolidated as "source available".

      6 replies →

    • bmacho  5 days ago

      OFF: Can we do something about this "open source" = "Open Source" usage? I want the opposite, "open source" = "source available" usage, because

          - that's what the words mean. 
    - the concept of Open Source is better denoted by a Proper Noun anyway

      I think the "open source" = "Open Source" usage will be a friction point forever if it stays. Can we ..

        - revert the usage to "open source" = "source available", or
  - decide that "open source" with small letters should not to be used (use "Open Source" or "source available" instead), or
  - defend "open source" = "Open Source" usage in a blogpost once and for all, and lessen this friction?

      3 replies →

    • diggan  5 days ago

      I'm not sure the same argument that Facebook's marketing teams use, hold a lot of water on a really programming-heavy forum like this :)

    • kstrauser  5 days ago

      But since [oO]pen [sS]ource has a broadly understood meaning that's different, we shouldn't deliberately use the same description for both ideas.

      If you want to describe it as "source available", I'll happily go along with it. It's not open source, though. The source is visible, but it's not open to use. I mean, you can find the leaked Windows source code online, but it's not open source just because you can look at it.