This series grew out of my experience as a developer and software architect: for more than twenty years, I ran into the concrete consequences of proprietary software — abandoned technologies, broken compatibility, unilateral changes to pricing or licensing. The founding article starts from these lived situations; this series, still being written, will broaden the discussion to free software and licences: how they work, what they change for users and organisations, and how to make choices that don’t leave you dependent on a single vendor.
Free software
Machine-translated page
This English version was produced by automatic AI translation. Only the French version is reviewed by the author, so it remains the authoritative reference. Spotted a mistake or an awkward turn of phrase? Please report it by opening a pull request — contributions are welcome.
By Yanal-Yves FARGIALLA • Updated on July 4, 2026 (AI-assisted writing, final review by the author)
Unless otherwise noted, this content is licensed under CC BY-SA
4.0.
