Is open-source software free of charge?

Is open-source software free of charge? -- Linux general technology-Linux technology and application information. For details, refer to the following section. Open-source software is open source code, but not necessarily free. The source code is publicly available in multiple forms. Even if the source code is downloaded for free, it does not mean that the public has the ability to compile the open source code into usable software. This process is also very complex, so some software vendors need to do some work to help users turn it into usable software, and this kind of work is charged, like some Linux vendors.

The purpose of open source is not to do philanthropy, but to reduce Software defects through more people's participation, and to avoid some improper backdoors in the software.

In addition, open source does not mean that source code intellectual property rights are not required. The lincence of Open Source Software generally imposes extremely strict rules on intellectual property rights. If any organization improperly uses open source software, it faces multiple risks: not only do open-source organizations sue you, but organizations that contribute source code to open-source organizations may also sue you.

Free software is free of charge. But this does not mean that I want to disclose the source code. On the contrary, in most cases, I may not disclose the source code. There are two main purposes for free: one is to fight against competitors and expand the market space. This is easy to understand. Do you want to compress the price? I don't want any money. one is to expand the user base, and there are more users, so I will receive money from other channels, such as value-added services. I don't need to talk about this more.

One thing to understand is that there is no free lunch in the world, and any software is made by an organization. Renting an office building requires rent, and programmers need to pay salaries, the development market also needs to burn money. How can we make the product ready for you in vain? Free or open source is just a different business model.

(Of course, Lin zida has all birds, and some rich people voluntarily come up with money to develop open-source and free software for the benefit of mankind, such as Ubuntu, we can only respect this spirit .)