CBSE Class 12 Informatics Practices Question 46 of 55

Societal Impacts — Question 16

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Question 12(e)

Differentiate between Free Software and Free and Open Source Software.

Answer
Free softwareFree and open source software
Free software means the software is freely accessible and can be freely used, changed, improved, copied and distributed by all who wish to do so.A software which is free as well as open belongs to category FOSS (Free and open source software).
Free software emphasizes the philosophical and ethical aspects of software freedom focusing on users' rights to control and modify the software they use.Free and open source software emphasizes the practical benefits of transparency, collaboration, and the ability to modify and distribute software freely.
Free software adheres to specific licenses like the GNU General Public License (GPL) that ensures users' freedoms.This software can be released under various licenses, some of which are more permissive like BSD, MIT, Apache 2.