Free & Open Source Software
Do you know what Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) is?
Here you will find information on how to recognize Free & Open Source Software and how to distinguish between different types of licenses. You will learn what uses are allowed and what obligations you have when distributing it. You will discover the difference between free software licenses and open source software as well as the difference between the “free software” and the “open source software” definition.
Look through the FAQs to find answers to frequently asked questions, deepen your knowledge by diving into our knowledge base and explore available trainings and webinars on the topic. In addition, for this topic, 4 podcast episodes are available (in the training section). At the end you can also find a selection of useful external resources on Free & Open Source Software licenses.
FAQS
3.1-3 For a project, magazine articles should be digitised and indexed by applying the principles of computational linguistics (a software ‘reads’ the words in the articles to collect and analyse text data). Does this qualify as perception of a work?
No, perception of a work only means that a natural person (human being) is taking notice of a work (in this case reading a work), not a computer.
KNOWLEDGEBASE
Learn more about Free & Open Source Software by having a look at the following chapters. Chapter 5b.2 is currently only available in German.
TRAINING
| Basics of FOSS (Episode 1) | In this episode you will learn what free and open source software is and about relevant technical basics of what a software is. |
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| FOSS Licenses (Episode 2) | In the 2nd part you will learn the difference between free software licenses and open source software as well as the difference between the free software definition and the open source software definition. Furthermore, you will discover where to find free and open source software licenses. |
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| How to choose the right FOSS License (Episode 3) | In this 3rd episode you will discover the two main categories of free and open source software licenses - permissive and copyleft licenses - and you will learn how to distinguish them. |
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| Are you allowed to sell copies of your FOSS? (Episode 4) | The 4th and last episode explains the difference between money that is exchanged for the software code itself and money that is exchanged for copyrights protecting the software code. |
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Webinar: Eine Einführung in Freie und Open Source Software
This Webinar was held in English by Melanie Graf. Here you can access the recording of the webinar, the presentation slides and the Q&A factsheet.
Training Catalogue
Inside the training catalogue you can find a vast selection of training topics and formats.
ADVISING
For any questions please do not hesitate to contact us either by e-mail (info@ccdigitallaw.ch) or phone (+41 58 666 49 30)
EXTERNAL RESOURCES
Introduction Videos
Definitions of Free & Open Source Software
- The free software definition - what is free software
- The open source software definition - what is open source software
- What's the difference between open source software and free software? (opensource.com)
- Why “Free Software” is better than “Open Source” (on gnu.org - by Free Software Foundation)
Free and Open Source Software Licenses
- Choose an open source license
- List of all free software licenses
- List of all open source software licenses