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A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

simplemobiletools.com

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Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#121

Post by blendergeek »

I see a number of comments here complaining that these apps cost money on the Play Store. To all of you, I say, the developer of these apps owes you nothing. You are entitled. These apps are a product built over a period of years largely buy a single developer. This developer has chosen to embrace Free Software and releases the entire source code to the pro-versions of these apps in order to allow you both audit them and build them yourself or fork them if you choose.

I only use F-Droid (which has the full versions gratis) so I donated to the developer's Patreon (until I switched to a Pinephone).

If these apps were proprietary, would you be entitled to them gratis (free of charge)? How does the developer granting you access to the source code change this?

If you use and enjoy these apps, please consider donating to the develop's Patreon in order to support them more fully.

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#123

Post by lupire »

teknopaul wrote: post #120
zimbatm wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

User buys a $600.- phone and then complains about a $2.- app. It's not enough that the application is open source, it should also be completely free of charge!

Yes, if its Open Source it should be free of charge. Open Source means something, not just that the source code is available.

What do you imagine Open Source means?

None of the inventors or well-known stewards of Open Source ideas share your belief.

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#125

Post by JeremyNT »

josephcsible wrote: post #46
glook wrote: post #42

I am a heavy user of f-droid and avoid these 'Simple' apps. The high level of nag is not just annoying but borders on begging. Having pro versions where you can change colors defeats the idea of open source. I hate bringing the negative energy, but there is a treasure of apps available with f-droid other than these. I am glad they have their own website and wish they just went and did their own thing there.

Wait, are you saying even the F-Droid versions nag you? I've never seen that.

I've used several of their tools from F-Droid and haven't seen this either.

I wonder if parent accidentally installed the Play Store version, or if there are only one or two of the apps that have this particular anti-feature.

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#128

Post by emteycz »

teknopaul wrote: post #117
notyourday wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alas, neither my grocery store nor does my landlord care about nice feels. Hence I do HTTP 402 Pay me.

Don't call it Open Source if you don't understand what it means. Call it shareware or freeware with nag screens.

Don't talk about open source if you don't understand it. Paid binaries are the oldest form of OSS monetization.

Is the source open and with a OSS-compatible licence? Then it's open source, not freeware nor shareware.

Red Hat has nagging too.

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#129

Post by teknopaul »

lupire wrote: post #123
teknopaul wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, if its Open Source it should be free of charge. Open Source means something, not just that the source code is available.

What do you imagine Open Source means? None of the inventors or well-known stewards of Open Source ideas share your belief.

Open source licenses are licenses that comply with the Open Source Definition — in brief, they allow software to be freely used, modified, and shared.

https://opensource.org/licenses

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#130

Post by teknopaul »

teknopaul wrote: post #129
lupire wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you imagine Open Source means? None of the inventors or well-known stewards of Open Source ideas share your belief.

Open source licenses are licenses that comply with the Open Source Definition — in brief, they allow software to be freely used, modified, and shared. https://opensource.org/licenses

Unnecessary restrictions on use such as changing the colour of the gui, is not within the general goals of Open source software.
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