Software license
From HvWiki
A software license is a type of proprietary or gratuitous license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software — sometimes called an End User License Agreement (EULA) — that specifies the perimeters of the permission granted by the owner to the user.
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Free software
What does "free" actually mean? It has two meanings.
Free as in speech
The source code is available for anyone to look at and modify. So anyone can see exactly how the software works, and debate how to improve it, fix bugs, etc.
Free as in beer
The software is given away free of charge.
Examples
Some Linux distributions are free as in beer and free as in speech. You can download the whole thing including the source code off the net.
Other Linux distros are free as in speech but not as in beer. The source is there but you have to buy a box with a CD in it.
Windows Media Player is free as in beer but not as in speech. You can download it free but the details of how it works are kept secret and protected by law.
Microsoft Office is not free at all.
Who could explain it better than Richard Stallman: [[1]]
Relevance to HV hobbyists
You might think this doesn't have anything to do with you. But if you publish details of projects you have built, you should think about it. Do you want your project to be free as in speech? Publishing a circuit diagram or PCB artwork is equivalent to the "source code". If you published the circuit, but sold PCBs to others, then it would be FAIS but not FAIB. If you wanted to commercialise it later, you might have problems. If you did not want it to be FAIS, you should have kept the schematic secret. But then you would have missed out on valuable help and advice from other members of the community.
Also, if you publish a project that turns out popular, do you have spare time to answer tech support queries from other hobbyists? Many free software developers have the same problem.
