Free Software refers to a software that gives its users freedom to run, modify and distribute the software.
| Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Arguments in favor of | Arguments opposing |
| Software gives more freedom to its users. | |
| Making a software free can help to increase its popularity and user base. | Potential abuse of the freedoms granted by a free software may damage its popularity and user base. |
| Users have freedom in modifying and distributing the software. | |
| Free software provides more freedom to modify and distribute the software. | Due to potential modifications of the software, a direct support may not be possible by the original developers. |
| The source code of the software is available to the users. | |
| Free software eases inspection by the user/developer community easing the identification of any potential issues. | The issues uncovered by the user/developer community may be known more widely and publicly, potentially making the software more susceptible. |