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The term Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS or sometimes FOSS) is a hybrid term for both free software and open source software.
"FLOSS" was popularised by the European Commission in June 2001 when it funded a project on the subject.[1] (http://www.berlecon.de/output/en/leistungen.php?we_objectID=67) In July 2002 a survey and study report of the workshop portion was produced and gave wider publicity for the term.
Since then various other official studies and online articles have used this acronym. One example is: "Free as in Education: Significance of the Free/Libre and Open Source Software for Developing Countries" by Niranjan Rajani [2] (http://www.maailma.kaapeli.fi/FLOSSReport1.0.html).
The aim was to create aterm which didn't alienate the advocates of either the free software philosophy, or the open source philosophy. It was hoped that such a term would ease friction between the two movements and thus improve cooperation.
The L in FLOSS is meant to emphasise the "has freedom" meaning of the word "free" rather than "no charge" (gratis). However, when the acronym is used unexpanded, those unfamiliar with the software freedom/openness more commonly guess the L to stand for Linux, thus swinging the meaning of the F back towards "gratis".
Although not part of the original goal, some prefer this acronym as various letters can be translated to languages other than English:
- the F can stand for Frei in German while the L can be for Libre in French and Spanish, Livre in Portuguese, and Libero in Italian, and so on.
Another term similar in aim with FLOSS is non-proprietary software, however, legally speaking, only public domain software is non-proprietary. At the end of 2004, although usage of the term hasn't declined, adoption of the term has more or less halted.
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