Free/Libre Open Source Software
The term
Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) was popularised by a June 2001
[1] to October 2002
European Commission project on the subject. In July 2002 a Survey and Study report of the workshop portion was produced and garnered wider publicity for the term. The term combines the concepts of free and open source and emphasises the 'libre' meaning of the word free rather than the "free of charge" meaning which those unfamiliar with the subject might assume.
Common meanings of free and open source are those given by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Their definitions are not all-inclusive, for they exclude some open source projects, such as anti-spam tool projects which which allow unpublished commerical derivative works but prohibit selling derivative anti-spam tools with spam.
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