Wuzzy {l Wrote}:Yes, there is no law prohibiting it.
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- The software has public source code, but no license attached. In other words, source-available
That is, per definitionem,
Public Domain. You can use such a software without any restrictions both in Anarcholand (where there are no copyright laws anyway) and in Copyrightland (where the software considered to belong to the public, because nobody claims the copyright, therefore nobody has the right to restrict the software's usage).
Wuzzy {l Wrote}:It's kind of weird wording when you think about it. Because the software couldln't care less about whether it is 'free' or not. It's just a software, it cannot think.
I see no probs here. You say "free beer", and everybody understands that the same way, and nobody cares that beer can't think either.
Wuzzy {l Wrote}:So the term 'free software' is very strange in the sense that it suggests that freedom is some innate property of the software itself, while in reality it is nothing like that.
You're confused. Freedom is indeed the property of the software, because it is guaranteed by its license. GPL for example is a software license, and not a human right.
Wuzzy {l Wrote}:Now let's say someone writes a software that is source-available in a way that is very transparent. For practical purposes, let's say everything what is needed to qualify the software as libre/free in a practical sense is already set in place for this software, EXCEPT the license/permissions. This, of course, means it's not free.
No. Public Domain works are truly free (in all possible sense of that word), because you don't have to pay for them and nobody can stop you from using them no matter what.
You can legally use public domain software. If anybody says otherwise,
that's a lie. And have no doubt: it is in big money's and lawyer's best interest to lie about that. They want you to be afraid of Public Domain and FOSS, you're only supposed to buy their proprietary sh*t which makes them profit. Of course they lie.
Wuzzy {l Wrote}:So copying, sharing, modifying this software in Copyrightland is illegal, making this software non-free.
That's where you're mistaken. If no license nor copyright attached, and it is publicly available, then it is Public Domain, both citizens of Anarcholand and Copyrightland are allowed to use that material without restrictions for free. It is not illegal to read Shakespare or listen to Mozart, not in China (known not to care about intellectual property at all) and not even in the US (which is the most dictatory state of all concerning copyright).
Cheers,
bzt