Open source: Difference between revisions
(New page: Category:Encyclopedia'''Open source''' or '''open-source''' is the idea that source code for a piece of software is freely available for viewing and modifying. According to the [http:/...) |
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[[Category:Encyclopedia]] |
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:#Free Redistribution: the software can be freely given away or sold. (This was intended to expand sharing and use of the software on a legal basis.) |
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:#Source Code: the source code must either be included or freely obtainable. (Without source code, making changes or modifications can be impossible.) |
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:#Derived Works: redistribution of modifications must be allowed. (To allow legal sharing and to permit new features or repairs.) |
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:#Integrity of The Author's Source Code: licenses may require that modifications are redistributed only as patches. |
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:#No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups: no one can be locked out. |
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:#No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor: commercial users cannot be excluded. |
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:#Distribution of License: The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties. |
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:#License Must Not Be Specific to a Product: the program cannot be licensed only as part of a larger distribution. |
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:#License Must Not Restrict Other Software: the license cannot insist that any other software it is distributed with must also be open source. |
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:#License Must Be Technology-Neutral: no click-wrap licenses or other medium-specific ways of accepting the license must be required. |
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| ⚫ | '''Open source''' or '''open-source''' is the idea that source code for a piece of software is freely available for viewing and modifying. Many open source licences are approved by the [http://www.opensource.org/ Open Source Initiative]. Open source licences approved by the Open Source Initiative may be referred to as '''OSI approved licences'''. |
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It should be noted that while the term "open source" has gained wide-spread acceptance, there are still those who reject it. The most visible example is [[wp:Richard Stallman|Richard Stallman]], founder of the GNU Project and author of the GPL and several widely-used software packages, who instead continues to use the older term '''free software'''. (For a brief discussion of his reasons, see the Terminology section of his Wikipedia entry.) The possible confusion of the word "free" prompted Stallman to explain it this way: |
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<blockquote>"Free software" is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of "free" as in "free speech," not as in "free beer."</blockquote> |
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==See Also== |
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* [http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd The Open Source Definition] |
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* [http://www.opensource.org/licenses List of Open Source Licenses] |
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* [http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html The Free Software Definition] |
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* [http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html Why Open Source misses the point of Free Software] |
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Latest revision as of 06:07, 6 March 2011
Open source or open-source is the idea that source code for a piece of software is freely available for viewing and modifying. Many open source licences are approved by the Open Source Initiative. Open source licences approved by the Open Source Initiative may be referred to as OSI approved licences.
The MIT/X11 License and the GPL are examples of open source licenses.
It should be noted that while the term "open source" has gained wide-spread acceptance, there are still those who reject it. The most visible example is Richard Stallman, founder of the GNU Project and author of the GPL and several widely-used software packages, who instead continues to use the older term free software. (For a brief discussion of his reasons, see the Terminology section of his Wikipedia entry.) The possible confusion of the word "free" prompted Stallman to explain it this way:
"Free software" is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of "free" as in "free speech," not as in "free beer."