Ask HN: Do you use 'open source' or 'open-source'?

I use "open source" personally, but it depends if there is ambiguity.

"Open-source" is a compound modifier which are used to avoid ambiguity.

Example: "Man-eating shark" could be read "man eating shark" without the hyphen, which can change the meaning to a man eating a shark instead of a shark eating a man.

Wikipedia switches constantly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source

"open-source" occurs 138 times "open source" occurs 119 times

I can't think of a scenario where "open source" leads to ambiguity. I would argue "open-source" removes any chance of ambiguity and is the better choice, but for aesthetic purposes I prefer "open source".

I usually use "open source" but I try to refer to the actual license to avoid ambiguity whenever possible. e.g: rather than say "This repo is open source" I'd rather say "This repo is MIT licensed".

open source is a compound noun. open-source is a compound adjective.

I use Open Source and Free Software (capitalized) as well as free as in beer (lowercase).

No one else seems to be picking up on my typographical hacktivism though.