# How can I tell if a particular distribution of the Discourse client is free software?

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-can-i-tell-if-a-particular-distribution-of-the-discourse-client-is-free-software/336374>\
**Category:** Product Support\
**Created:** [November 15, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-can-i-tell-if-a-particular-distribution-of-the-discourse-client-is-free-software/336374 "2024-11-15T17:33:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![merefield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/merefield/32/176214_2.png) [@merefield](https://meta.discourse.org/u/merefield)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-can-i-tell-if-a-particular-distribution-of-the-discourse-client-is-free-software/336374/3 "2024-11-15T18:03:33Z")

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My guess is you can’t.

Some installs will be hosted and have proprietary bits in the hosting stack.

Self hosters would be foolish not to use the [standard install](https://meta.discourse.org/t/142537?silent=true) because that’s the cheapest to support.

One thing you might find is some sites might use proprietary/private plugins which the platform allows you to install at the admins discretion.

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