Sometime on Apr 17, Sameer D. Sahasrabuddhe assembled some asciibets to say:
Not true. Open source simply gives you access to the source code. It makes no provision for the modification or redistribution of that code. Free software gives you that freedom.
Not true!
Ok, I was really talking about software who's source is open, but not free, like pine for example. You are allowed to see the source, compile it and redistribute it. However, if you modify it, these modifications must remain local to your site. You cannot redistribute modified versions of the software. You are however allowed to distribute patches to the original source.
Anyway, the difference isn't that important to us, but it may make a difference with policy makers where the details of the licence really do come into play. It is important to ensure correct nomenclature.
All free software licences are opensource, all opensource licences are not free.