Open source licenses allow anyone to access, use, and modify software without fear of copyright infringement. Modified software may or may not be legally distributed, and authors can control distribution by requiring specific information in the source code. Open source software is often free, but modifications cannot be sold without risking lawsuits.
An open source license is a form of computer software copyright in which the author allows the source codes to be accessed, used, and manipulated by anyone without fear of reprisal for copyright infringement. This means that anyone who downloads the source code can make any desired change to the source code. This allows users to fully customize a software to suit their needs.
A modified copy of software that has an open source license may or may not be legally distributed. An author may state in his source code that distribution of any modification may constitute copyright infringement and is expressly prohibited. In that case, the edited content may only be used by the modifier and he or she may not share the edits with anyone else.
The term “open source software” does not mean that any software is free, although most open source software is distributed that way. Most authors who provide open source software for free specify that any modifications they make to the software cannot be sold, although they can be distributed free of charge. Any attempt to sell modifications to open source software may result in civil and lawsuits. Some open source authors ask for voluntary donations when their programs are downloaded, although the programs are not technically sold.
The author of software with an open source license can control how modifications are distributed by requiring that modifiers add specific information to the source code. There are four distinct ways to request control of modified source codes. The first is called transparent, where the author who modifies must keep the original code and all modifications transparent so that everyone can see what has been done.
The second request is known as a recombinant. In this request, the author only allows modifiers to modify or rearrange existing code in the source code, but is prohibited from adding their own additional code. The third request is called credited, and the author simply requests that his work be credited as original and that any subsequent changes be labeled with credits to the person who made the changes. The last request the author can make is known as circulating, and requests that original software under the open source license remain downloadable in an unmodified state labeled as original.
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