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1) In general, open source refers to any program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit. (Historically, the makers of proprietary software have generally not made source code available.) Open source software is usually developed as a public collaboration and made freely available. 2) Open Source is a certification mark owned by the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Developers of software that is intended to be freely shared and possibly improved and redistributed by others can use the Open Source trademark if their distribution terms conform to the OSI's Open Source Definition. To summarize, the Definition model of distribution terms require that: - The software being distributed must be redistributed to anyone else without any restriction
- The source code must be made available (so that the receiving party will be able to improve or modify it)
- The license can require improved versions of the software to carry a different name or version from the original software
The idea is very similar to that behind free software and the copyleft concept of the Free Software Foundation. Open Source is the result of a long-time movement toward software that is developed and improved by a group of volunteers cooperating together on a network. Many parts of the Unix operating system were developed this way, including today's most popular version, Linux. Linux uses applications from the GNU project, which was guided by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation. The Open Source Definition, spearheaded by Eric Raymond (editor of The New Hacker's Dictionary), is an effort to provide a branded model or guideline for this kind of software distribution and redistribution. The OSI considers the existing software distribution licenses used by GNU, BSD (a widely-distributed version of UNIX), X Window System, and Artistic to be conformant with the Open Source Definition. Prior to its acquisition by AOL, Netscape, in an effort to stay viable in its browser competition with Microsoft, made its browser source code (codenamed Mozilla) freely available, encouraging hacker to improve it. Possible enhancements will presumably be incorporated into future versions. The open source movement has gained momentum as commercial enterprises have begun to consider Linux as an open alternative to Windows operating systems.
Last updated on: Aug 14, 2008
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