this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
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Free in FOSS means as in freedom, not free as in beer. You can demand pay for foss software. You don't have to distribute it for free. The only requirement is that you provide source code if asked for and the other person can also you can modify it and redistribute it (for a price or free) if he wants.
I'm quite out of the loop with sync for lemmy, and frankly don't give a shit. Just please don't spread disinformatiin on what foss is.
You are describing the GPL. FOSS encompasses many licenses in addition to the GPL and those other licenses do not fit your description above.
GPL and it's derivatives are ones of the most zealous of them, yet they allow you to sell the software. FOSS doesn't require you to give away software for free and it's a common misconception. Apache for example also allows you to sell the software.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Free_Software_Definition#The_definition_and_the_Four_Freedoms
You only lose monopolistic control over it.
Software is often free, because other people can choose to alter the software and redistribute for free.