Refers to software that is distributed with its source code so that end user organizations and vendors can modify it for their own purposes. Most open source licenses allow the software to be redistributed without restriction under the same terms of the license. For the complete, official definition of open source, visit www.opensource.org/docs/osd. For a list of approved open source licenses, visit www.opensource.org/licenses.
There are thousands of open source programs, and although they are used on most platforms, they are particularly common in the Unix world. Major examples are the Linux operating system, Apache Web server and JBoss application server. See Linux, Apache and JBoss.
Free and Paid
A great amount of open source software is available at no charge, and many open source projects are developed by a community of volunteers. However, there are commercial vendors that enhance open source software and charge a fee, the most notable example being a distribution of Linux (see Linux distribution).
Free and Open Source
In the late 1990s, open source software was derived from "free software," meaning free of restrictions and why the phrase "free and open source software" is often used. Whereas the "free software" movement promotes the user's freedom as an ethical issue, the philosophy of open source focuses on the practical benefits when users cooperate with each other. Nearly all open source software is free software, but there are occasional exceptions because the definition of free software is more strict (see free software).
Peer Review
Open source proponents claim that because the source code is continuously reviewed by new programmers, it eventually produces a more bug-free product. In addition, the wide variety of contributors provides enhancements and refinements that would take much longer with proprietary software or never be added.
Vendors of proprietary software counter by saying that "too many cooks spoil the broth!" They maintain that having complete control over software ultimately results in better products. Clearly there is good and bad software from both camps, but there is empirical evidence that open source has advantages. "Software Industry vs. Software Society: Who Wins in 2020?" is a provocative article about the subject by Michael Tiemann, president of the Open Source Initiative (www.computerlanguage.com/2020.pdf).
Useful Software May Last Longer
A distinct advantage of open source is that as long as there is even one remaining, devoted contributor, the software will continue to be enhanced. In the world of proprietary, commercial software, a useful program that users may truly love is often abandoned if it does not generate sufficient profit compared to other products. For more information, visit www.opensource.org and www.sourceforge.net. See free software, Shared Source and open source hardware.
There are thousands of open source programs, and although they are used on most platforms, they are particularly common in the Unix world. Major examples are the Linux operating system, Apache Web server and JBoss application server. See Linux, Apache and JBoss.
Free and Paid
A great amount of open source software is available at no charge, and many open source projects are developed by a community of volunteers. However, there are commercial vendors that enhance open source software and charge a fee, the most notable example being a distribution of Linux (see Linux distribution).
Free and Open Source
In the late 1990s, open source software was derived from "free software," meaning free of restrictions and why the phrase "free and open source software" is often used. Whereas the "free software" movement promotes the user's freedom as an ethical issue, the philosophy of open source focuses on the practical benefits when users cooperate with each other. Nearly all open source software is free software, but there are occasional exceptions because the definition of free software is more strict (see free software).
Peer Review
Open source proponents claim that because the source code is continuously reviewed by new programmers, it eventually produces a more bug-free product. In addition, the wide variety of contributors provides enhancements and refinements that would take much longer with proprietary software or never be added.
Vendors of proprietary software counter by saying that "too many cooks spoil the broth!" They maintain that having complete control over software ultimately results in better products. Clearly there is good and bad software from both camps, but there is empirical evidence that open source has advantages. "Software Industry vs. Software Society: Who Wins in 2020?" is a provocative article about the subject by Michael Tiemann, president of the Open Source Initiative (www.computerlanguage.com/2020.pdf).
Useful Software May Last Longer
A distinct advantage of open source is that as long as there is even one remaining, devoted contributor, the software will continue to be enhanced. In the world of proprietary, commercial software, a useful program that users may truly love is often abandoned if it does not generate sufficient profit compared to other products. For more information, visit www.opensource.org and www.sourceforge.net. See free software, Shared Source and open source hardware.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- The Role of Open Source Data Integration
- This free-to-download whitepaper looks at how Enterprise customers are demanding project]sized data integration tools that can be scaled up to enterprise use. They donft want complex, expensive DI products that are not a fit with the distributed nature of the application environment. With such a large market need, we argue...
- White papers 2009-11-26
- Death of the black box EULA
- Nonsense. Just look at Psystar.They died by the EULA. The judge even brought that up.And open source software has an EULA of its own, telling you exactlly what you can and must do to be able to use the software.Any failure to follow the EULA/GPL allows the owner of the...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-25
- Does virtualization equal cloud computing?
- I would say yesThere is no need to buy 'stand alone' servers any longer in functionality when you can put it in a Blade 'name your flavor' chassis.Virtualization with VMware/RHEL or some vendor is the best way to get it off bare-metal...Doing baremetal rebuilds is time consuming and it takes...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-25
- HP debuts iPAQ Glisten, 3G Windows Mobile 6.5 world phone on AT&T
- FAIL!It's running Windows Mobile....FAIL! A phone is only as good as the OS that is on it. So long Windows Mobile...It has been replaced by Open_Source technologies and Android/Apple phones that work!;)Next up Google Chrome OS will take on Windows.It is going to be interesting.I agreeandroid and Linux is the...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-24
- What open source can teach medical practice
- Great article, Dana.You did in such a short piece what CNN, MSNBC, FOX and other media journalists failed to do: tell the story as it really is. You didn't take what was news worthy and sensationalized it, nor played up a negative reading of it to frighten those possibly affected,...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-24
- What open source can teach medical practice
- We are collecting the data. We need to unlock it. We are writing the code. We need to share it. This is what open source can teach the practice of medicine. by Dana Blankenhorn
- Blog posts 2009-11-24
- Zimbra Collaboration Suite 6.0.3 (Mac)
- Zimbra Collaboration Suite ZCS is modern, innovative messaging and collaboration.-Zimbra is the leading open source solution for enterprise, service provider, academic, and government environments; offering administrators and their end-users unmatched benefits and TCO. Zimbra is popular choice for today's growing-Linux email server base. ZCS features an award-winning Ajax web client...
- Software downloads 2009-11-24
- Windows Mobile is better than you think
- My main gripeis with the antique user interface which is little more than an uninspired, miniaturized desktop GUI.The foundations seems solid enough now - it is quite decent in multi-tasking and is generally responsive.I too believe that if MS can reinvigorate the UI they still has a strong competitor. Oh...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-23
- Fawning over Chatter and how SAP missed its chance
- What Salesforce did was pricing, not features...What I was talking about that most people missed wasn't the feature set. Of course that isn't new. Even Benioff pretty much admits he stole the idea from Facebook and Twitter.But at the Techcrunch Real Time Crunchup on Friday Benioff said Salesforce was working...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-23
- Google goes all-in with an open source cloud
- RE: Google goes all-in with an open source cloudGoogle is redifing the marketplace each day with calculated innovation to set the table for their advancement and domination in the future. I can't for the fight that is coming with MS Office next year and Google docs.another nail in M$...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-23
- Google goes all-in with an open source cloud
- Open standards set terms of competition that advantage the low-cost producer of bits and processing. That's Google. by Dana Blankenhorn
- Blog posts 2009-11-23
- Open Search Server 1.1.2r665 (Mac)
- Open Search Server OSS is a search engine software developed under the GPL v3 open source licence. Built using the best open source technologies available, Open Search Server is a stable, high-performance piece of software. It is both a modern search engine and a suite of high-powered full text search...
- Software downloads 2009-11-21
- PeaZip 2.8 (Windows)
- PeaZip is a free, open source file and archive manager for 32 and 64 bit Windows and Linux. It is available either as installable and portable application not needing installation. Full support: 7Z, 7Z-sfx, ARC/WRC, BZ2/TBZ2, Custom user defined, GZ/TGZ, PAQ/ZPAQ, PEA, QUAD/BALZ, split, TAR, UPX, ZIP. Open, browse, extract,...
- Software downloads 2009-11-21
- Will Microsoft's Silverlight dampen the appeal of Google's Chrome OS?
- MS is the past Google is the future so NopeGoogle is the old MS, MS is the old IBM. PC_DOS never made it, MS_DOS did. The driving factor was openness and innovation.Today and in the near future, Google has bothToday MS sees profit only and based on thatdrives...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-20
- Mozilla: Still too dependent on Google for revenue; Can it diversify?
- well its in Google best interest ...that mozilla is healthy and and kicking .... anyone claiming monopole they point out that they support Mozilla foundation big time ...Google keep its competition alive they should do more invest in ubuntu ... so they...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-20
- Google Chrome OS has arrived as free VMWare download
- Somebody will make it available in a more public area, I'm sure.Being that it's open source, somebody's going to make it available in a more public area, I'm sure. I'll wait until then.RE: Google Chrome OS has arrived as free VMWare downloadthat's not the real release... that's a linux based...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-20
- MeaMod Playme 0.9.6.3 (Windows)
- MeaMod Playme is a open source media player for windows with the ability to most media formats. ID3 tag support with album art. Windows Live Messenger I'm listening to. Lyrics fetch support. VideoChoice music video lookup. Application add-ons. Application Options. Enhanced Audio Control. Notification Area Remote with minimize to notification...
- Software downloads 2009-11-20
- Chrome OS will give Microsoft a run for their money
- SilverLight draws circles around Google's gimmickCompare SL's demo w/ that of ChromeOS and see it for yourself the truth: The former completely owns the latter.RE: Chrome OS will give Microsoft a run for their moneyWhat kool aid are you drinking? NOTHING is secure, and Google wants to take over everything....
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- Google makes Chrome OS open source today
- I like itThe ChromeOS demo looked pretty cool!I'm almost 100% webapp-based already, so I could see myself using a simple, fast & no maintenance OS like that the majority of the time.I like it too, but, for me, I need to compile and run programs locally. I would imagine that...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- Google makes Chrome OS open source today
- Contrary to rumors, Google did not release a beta version of its much anticipated Chrome operating system today. And nothing is coming anytime soon: the final version is at least a year away, the mega giant web company said. But there was some significant news for the...
- Blog posts 2009-11-19
Neighboring Terms
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
- New Online Dashboard for IT Leaders
-
Read about top issues IT decision-makers face every day, plus get cost-effective solutions to real-life IT problems.
- Learn more >>
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online - Free Six-Month Trial for Eligible Organizations
-
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online provides fast online access, simple contact management and better sales performance for a low monthly cost - the best value on the market today.
- Learn more about the free, six-month trial offer>>
- Reduce risk. Reduce complexity. Increase reliability.
-
A simplified IT environment isn't just less complex. It's also more reliable. Standardize on a single Linux platform with SUSE Linux Enterprise from Novell, and get the world's most interoperable Linux
- Learn more >>
Enterprise Applications
- Check out some of the easiest and most powerful ways to boost productivity while saving money on your application infrastructure. See ZDNet's comprehensive Enterprise Application resource center, now!
- New Online Dashboard
-
- Read about top issues IT decision-makers face every day, plus get cost effective solutions to real life IT problems. Oracle Topline
-
