open source

philosophy, legal A method and philosophy for software

licensing and distribution designed to encourage use and

improvement of software written by volunteers by ensuring that

anyone can copy the source code and modify it freely.

The term "open source" is now more widely used than the

earlier term "free software" (promoted by the Free SoftwareFoundation) but has broadly the same meaning - free of

distribution restrictions, not necessarily free of charge.

There are various open source licenses available.

Programmers can choose an appropriate license to use when

distributing their programs.

The Open Source Initiative promotes the Open SourceDefinition.

The Cathedral and the Bazaar.

was a seminal paper describing the open source phenomenon.

Open Sources - O'Reilly book with full text online.

Articles from ZDNet.

(1999-12-29)