Open source - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Open source :

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 Software Foundation) 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 Source Definition.

The Cathedral and the Bazaar http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar.html)">(http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar.html). was a seminal paper describing the open source phenomenon.

Open Sources - O'Reilly book with full text online http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/perens.html)">(http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/perens.html).

Articles from ZDNet http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/features/opensource/)">(http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/features/opensource/).

(1999-12-29)

Based on the Online Dictionary of Computing [Computer_Dictionary]:

Open source : n. [common; also adj. `open-source'] Term coined in March 1998 following the Mozilla release to describe software distributed in source under licenses guaranteeing anybody rights to freely use, modify, and redistribute, the code. The intent was to be able to sell the hackers' ways of doing software to industry and the mainstream by avoiding the negative connotations (to suits) of the term "{free software". For discussion of the follow-on tactics and their consequences, see the Open Source Initiative (http://www.opensource.org) site.

Based on the Online Dictionary of Computing [Computer_Dictionary]:

Example Usage of source
	_KillinMeSoftly: has just done a job in Frame a Rival Soldier in #MobsterWorld http://www.playmobsterworld.com/?platform=twitter&source=oneline_dojob
	natanielewsky: Phi: 1.618. The 'phinest' source to the golden section, gold http://bit.ly/6tnODL #mathematics
	mr_c_c: reached level 9 in #MobsterWorld http://www.playmobsterworld.com/?platform=twitter&source=oneline_levelup

Open source - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Example Usage of source