I used this for years, from version 1.9 all the way to 5.x when I moved onto other software.

EDIT: Here is the full press release.

Press Release- Inside information May 16, 2024 – 08:30 CEST Winamp has announced that it is opening up its source code to enable collaborative development of its legendary player for Windows. Winamp has announced that on 24 September 2024, the application’s source code will be open to developers worldwide. Winamp will open up its code for the player used on Windows, enabling the entire community to participate in its development. This is an invitation to global collaboration, where developers worldwide can contribute their expertise, ideas, and passion to help this iconic software evolve. Winamp has become much more than just a music player. It embodies a unique digital culture, aesthetic, and user experience. With this initiative to open the source code, Winamp is taking the next step in its history, allowing its users to contribute directly to improving the product. “This is a decision that will delight millions of users around the world. Our focus will be on new mobile players and other platforms. We will be releasing a new mobile player at the beginning of July. Still, we don’t want to forget the tens of millions of users who use the software on Windows and will benefit from thousands of developers’ experience and creativity. Winamp will remain the owner of the software and will decide on the innovations made in the official version,” explains Alexandre Saboundjian, CEO of Winamp. Interested developers can now make themselves known at the following address: about.winamp.com/free-llama

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3 points
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I’ve been thinking of OSS and source available as interchangeable.

Nope; they are distinct terms. Source-available is just a general way of saying that the source code can be (legally) acquired. It doesn’t meet the standards of open-source software (OSS) or Free Software, both of which guarantee certain rights and freedoms, such as permission to make and redistribute changes to the source code.

https://opensource.org/osd

https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html#fs-definition

It’s understandable that it might be confusing, though, since some people use the terms casually without understanding that they have specific meanings, and since both phrases use English words that could be interpreted to mean something else. (For example, “free software” doesn’t mean software whose price is zero, and “open-source software” doesn’t mean software whose source code is published in the open.)

Edit to add: Like many English words, the context in which they are used affects their meaning. The field of software is such a context.

But now it kind of seems to me that free software is interchangeable with open source software. Is it just a matter of branding?

The two overlap, but are not exactly the same. The umbrella term FOSS evolved to encompass both, because there is so much overlap between them that having such a term is often useful.

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3 points
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since some people use the terms casually without understanding that they have specific meanings, and since both phrases use English words that could be interpreted to mean something else. (For example, “free software” doesn’t mean software whose price is zero, and “open-source software” doesn’t mean software whose source code is published in the open.)

The Free Software Foundation can make whatever definitions they want, but they don’t supersede regular English. That’s not a problem with “some people” being casual, it’s a problem with a small entity trying to claim a common term. The confusion is entirely their fault.

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3 points

What does a free country mean? One having no value of money? Its english’s fault that two different words can have exact same spelling and pronounciation. Most other languages have distinct terms for the two "free"s

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2 points

Ambiguous words with context-dependent meanings don’t make trying to define only one meaning as correct a useful and reasonable task to attempt for a small foundation. There are also notably synonyms for “free” that don’t have that issue.

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1 point

The Free Software Foundation can make whatever definitions they want, but they don’t supersede regular English.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/term of art

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The Free Software Foundation isn’t a broad industry body defining standard terms for general software development, and even if they were, a term of use doesn’t supersede regular English. People using “free software” to mean “without cost software” aren’t in any way wrong, unless maybe they’re actual members of the FSF.

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Free and Open Source Software

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