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They are the same. The full .NET framework effectively had the full source code available to read as the "Reference Source" but there was never any doubt it was proprietary.

https://referencesource.microsoft.com/

You can mince words and make inconsequential adjustments to proprietary software licenses but they are still proprietary.

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The current iteration of the .NET Framework, .NET Core, is proper Open Source under the MIT license. .NET Framework 4.x above is a different beast all-together and requires Mono for cross-platform compatibility. I am guessing you are fully aware of the difference, but worth pointing out for readers who might not be :)

.Net Core is not an iteration of .Net framework.

.Net Core and .Net Framework are separate implementations of .Net Standard.

Though the argument is that because all of the innovation is happening in .NET Core (and indeed the .NET Standard 1.x versions were a game of .NET Core implementing things first and backports eventually made to .NET Framework), the clear indicator seems to be that .NET Core is the present-future platform (ie, the "current iteration") for .NET and .NET Framework the backwards-compatible past. Though Microsoft has walked that messaging back, somewhat, it's very much the case that greenfield projects today are best on .NET Core, and even brownfield projects are welcome on .NET Core (.NET Core 3.0 "Desktop Pack" is now the best way to build and run WinForms and WPF applications).

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