The open source movement involves skilled volunteers developing software that can be modified and distributed for free. It has reduced technology costs and enabled educational and non-profit groups to use technology. Notable examples include Linux, Apache, Firefox, and OpenOffice. Open source hardware is also becoming popular. Open source software is different from free proprietary software as the source code is distributed.
The open source movement commonly refers to the development of software by skilled volunteer programmers. Open source software allows you to offer a functional software product and its source code free of charge to all users. Users may be individuals or may be educational, corporate or governmental entities. The open source movement has been credited with the advancement of technology and the internet. The concept has also spread beyond software to open source hardware.
With open source applications, programmers can modify the source code and then give it back to the community for testing and incorporation into a new version of the software. This way, a group of dedicated volunteers can create complete software, with few bugs. The open source movement evolved from the free software movement of the 1980s.
A milestone in the open source movement occurred in the 1990s when a Finnish computer science student named Linus Torvalds wrote an operating system he called Linux. Other students continued to improve the operating system, which was later distributed under a general public license (GPL). Linux has grown in popularity and is especially popular with technically savvy users.
The open source movement has reduced the cost of internet technology and has helped the internet gain traction. It has enabled educational organizations and non-profit groups to take advantage of technology they otherwise could not afford. Many educational organizations support open source development by encouraging software development students to work on open source projects. Companies of various sizes also use open source software and some companies assist in the development.
Some notable examples of open source products made available to the public include the Apache web server, the Firefox web browser, and the Java programming language. OpenOffice was developed as an open source productivity suite including word processing, spreadsheet, database and graphics packages. Open source email tools can support high volumes of email securely. Wikipedia, which allows anyone to edit entries, is an example of an open source dictionary.
Open source software is often confused with free proprietary software. Although both are distributed for free, the licenses are fundamentally different. In the case of proprietary free software, the source code is not distributed and the developer company owns all rights to it.
While open source usually refers to software, the open source movement has spread to hardware. Some open source hardware vendors publish product design specifications. They allow anyone to use open source design documents to produce the hardware without paying fees.
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