does a free license make software free?

chrysn chrysn at fsfe.org
Wed Aug 29 08:40:54 UTC 2007


> To qualify as free software, it doesn't need to be "publicly 
> available"; it *does* need to be available with the full exercise of 
> the four freedoms in the Free Software Definition to every recipient 
> of the software.
>
> So, the page needs to clarify whether the "actual source code" is 
> available for unrestricted use, modification, and redistribution for 
> every recipient.
>   
core force can be downloaded gratis from their website, but only in the
form of an installer. i tried to install it using wine in order to see
if maybe the source is included in the installer (there is no link to
the source in the download area [1]), but it requires msie5+ which is
not provided by wine, so i'll try as soon as i have a virtual windows
available.

[1] http://force.coresecurity.com/index.php?module=base&page=download
> That's never been the case. A free license is a necessary, but not 
> always sufficient, precondition for the work to be free software.
>   
so the conclusion is that everything is basically in accordance with the
licenses (as it is hard to violate the apache license), and core force
could be described as "freeware under a pointless free license"? (for
lacking source availability to users, it is definitely not free
software, that is obvious)



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