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Johannes Näder

has become a growing issue in the Free Software community. Many companies claim to be working on “Open Source” or “Free Software” while distributing proprietary software products.

We at the @fsfe would like to learn more about current market practices, and we need your help!

Please share your views and experiences on openwashing here:
share.fsfe.org/apps/forms/s/Z6

Please spread the word, any input is welcome!

share.fsfe.orgFSFE Collaboration

@johas @fsfe Die Berliner Zeitung hat ja eine Kategorie Open Source in der nicht Angestellte schreiben, finde das schon openwashing.

@johas @fsfe Is that Javascript being used in the forms page free software?

@johas @fsfe (a very cursory look, many files lack copyright notices, or any indication of the terms)

@johas @fsfe What even is "openwashing"? When an open source product has a closed source sibling like Chromium and Chrome? Or when a product is source-available like Unreal Engine?

@elgregor @fsfe This is exactly one of the questions where we'd really appreciate your input: How would you define it? You can use this form to leave your input: share.fsfe.org/apps/forms/s/Z6

share.fsfe.orgFSFE Collaboration

@johas @fsfe I wouldn't define it; it's the first time I hear this term. Taken literally, it would mean proprietary software that claims to be open source, but I have never heard of such a thing (other than people forgetting to include a LICENSE file on GitHub in small new projects, but a bug report solves it).

Overall, the claim that "OpenWashing has become a growing issue in the Free Software community" seems to be really silly because no definition I can think of can make this claim true.

@johas @fsfe @miklo only for a moment I was hoping for a open source washing machine...

@harce @fsfe @miklo Nice thought, and some folks already worked on this some years ago. But while an open source washing machine wouldn't be a problem for Free Software at all, open washing seems to be a big one.