What is the difference between open source software and freeware?

Question

Thank you for your answers. =) need it for my report.

Answer 1

Freeware is just a binary (executable file or compiled C files for linux systems etc.) which is available.
Open source software is the one which contains source code and is availble to us from at least one public source for download or is available along with the binary which can be compiled on any system (leads to better and optimal binary) and thus available to study, modify and understand. The licence which generally comes is GNU general public license or other. See the GNU's site for more info. they have explained it very nicely the difference between free and open-source.

Also open-source may or may not be free and license comes with it which determines if you need permission to distribute the modified source code or not.

Answer 2

Shareware is attempt formerly you purchase, generally in basic terms many of the beneficial factors of this methodology are obtainable extra like a demo. the place as freeware is a software it is unfastened to apply any the place, and open source is unfastened utility which you apart from would have the source code obtainable to edit, or regulate as you like. maximum folk do no longer could edit the source code so by a techniques and massive freeware and open source are one interior an analogous.

Answer 3

Freeware is software that is free. It may or may not include the source code for the software.

Open source is software that includes the source code. Open source software does not have to be free, although much of it often is.

The point of Open source is that proponents of it, believe that its important to have the source code of all your software, so that if you come to depend on it, or find bugs, you can always modify it yourself to fix it, or enhance it. Without the source, you depend on the original author, who may or may not be interested in maintaining the program.