FSF Compared to OSI

To start with, both of these organizations were new to me. As I understood, the main difference between the two were that one promotes free software and freedom in software all together and the other organization promotes open source as such.

By many lectures by now I and hopefully this blog's readers have come to a conclusion that FREEWARE is intellectual property (software) that is being given away with no monetary costs to the (retail) consumer TODAY.

On the other side - OPEN SOURCE is intellectual property (eg. software), that is created and developed BY the consumers FOR the consumers, usually with no monetary costs. Exceptions can come, when for example the property is developed by paid personnel, not the consumers itself.

The only thing the two have in common, is the monetary similarity that is occasional - no costs for the consumer.

This is apparent in the comparison between the two organizations: FSF and OSI. While FSF thoroughly fights for the retail consumer's right for free software and the protection of one's privacy (EDIT: NOT ONLY), OSI actually plays on a whole different playground. OSI states its mission as for the wide-spread of open-source programming in the world (http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd).

So to me the two are nothing alike, as FSF does the ungrateful business of promoting the idea of free software and consumer privacy protection (EDIT: NOT ONLY), OSI on the other hand is a sort of institution like IEEE etc. which promotes a certain type of development culture.


EDIT:
As I found out, the extent of which the FSF supports free software as such is far more greater than just "pushing" freeware. FSF sees the software as not only free to consume, but free to edit, share or anything else imaginable. Freeware in fact is totally irrelevant in the case of FSF, but rather FREE SOFTWARE should be used. I myself and I guess many new-comers also at first would see the sign FREE as a term commenting the potential product's missing monetary costs. But as Kaido Kikkas has stated in his lectures - the pricing is just the tip of the iceberg and in the case of FSF free means a whole new scope of things, mainly agitating the belief that there cannot be NO property when it comes to knowledge (products) that are produced using our brains. And if there cannot be no property, then all the means to control it are futile. Hence FREE software.


http://www.fsf.org/
http://www.opensource.org/