# Rename Case 485

**URL:** <https://tosdr.community/t/rename-case-485/3510>\
**Category:** Case Discussions\
**Tags:** phoenix, case-change, case\
**Created:** [June 12, 2026, 1:36am UTC](https://tosdr.community/t/rename-case-485/3510 "2026-06-12T01:36:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dr\_Jeff](https://tosdr.community/user_avatar/tosdr.community/dr_jeff/32/2728_2.png) [@Dr\_Jeff](https://tosdr.community/u/Dr_Jeff)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2026, 1:36am UTC](https://tosdr.community/t/rename-case-485/3510/1 "2026-06-12T01:36:18Z")

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## [Case 485](https://edit.tosdr.org/cases/485)

> **Proposal**
>
> - Name: _The service is released as free software or open-source_
> - Description: _The code of the service’s software is licensed under either an open-source or a free software license, so the users can have access to the source code and inspect it for themselves._

> **Old name and description**
>
> - Name: _The service is open-source_
> - Description: _The code of the software is open-source and the users can have access to the source code._

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## Reasoning

While open source and free software licenses have things in common, I’m of the opinion that they should be differentiated, in fairnes to what each represents at its core.

For example: Yes, code under a free software license (e.g. GNU GPL) is pretty much just as available to inspect as software under a more open source license (e.g. MIT/Apache-2.0). Despite that, there are big differences that should be made clear to the public, as to not get one confused/conflated with the other.

* * *

Thoughts? The wording might need improvements, but you should get the gist of what I mean.

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**Author:** ![Clippy](https://tosdr.community/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/c0e974/32.png) [@Clippy](https://tosdr.community/u/Clippy)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2026, 1:41am UTC](https://tosdr.community/t/rename-case-485/3510/2 "2026-06-12T01:41:29Z")

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So you would merge this with case 171? If yes, I think this is a good idea. (EDIT: After seeing your response I don’t think they should be merged)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dr\_Jeff](https://tosdr.community/user_avatar/tosdr.community/dr_jeff/32/2728_2.png) [@Dr\_Jeff](https://tosdr.community/u/Dr_Jeff)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2026, 2:22am UTC](https://tosdr.community/t/rename-case-485/3510/3 "2026-06-12T02:22:37Z")

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@Clippy I disagree, that was not the intention.

One deals with features offered by the service, while the other deals with the service itself, at its core.

Let’s take F-Droid as an example:

- F-Droid is an app store, which offers apps that are licensed under a free license. We should clarify that not only the service itself is free software, but also the apps it offers.

Yes, I know it’s free software on its own, but ignore that for this reasoning. Yes, this is a very simplified representation of how F-Droid works, not to mention that I’m cherry-picking for this explanation.  
Taking all the objections above into account, the deal here is to differentiate between how the service itself is licensed vs. how the service’s features (which can sometimes be under a different license sometimes).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Clippy](https://tosdr.community/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/c0e974/32.png) [@Clippy](https://tosdr.community/u/Clippy)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2026, 2:43am UTC](https://tosdr.community/t/rename-case-485/3510/4 "2026-06-12T02:43:04Z")

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Oops, I misunderstood case 171, I read it as “The service is made available under a free software license”

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dr\_Jeff](https://tosdr.community/user_avatar/tosdr.community/dr_jeff/32/2728_2.png) [@Dr\_Jeff](https://tosdr.community/u/Dr_Jeff)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2026, 8:27pm UTC](https://tosdr.community/t/rename-case-485/3510/5 "2026-06-16T20:27:58Z")

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Since no objections have been made, I’ll apply these changes.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dr\_Jeff](https://tosdr.community/user_avatar/tosdr.community/dr_jeff/32/2728_2.png) [@Dr\_Jeff](https://tosdr.community/u/Dr_Jeff)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2026, 8:28pm UTC](https://tosdr.community/t/rename-case-485/3510/6 "2026-06-18T20:28:51Z")

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