What is Open Source?
Open source is a philosophy which suggests that the source code behind something should be freely available to the public. The principle originated in the software industry in the late 1990s, with several releases of open source software and operating systems, and it has since diffused into other communities as well. There are a number of strong arguments for releasing something in open source format, whether it be a recording, a software tool, or an entire operating system. The main advantage to open source is that it allows end users to directly interact with the source, potentially modifying it to suit their wishes. This encourages constant development and innovation, while also creating a community of shared information. Many companies which produce open source products rely on the innovations of users to expand features and to identify and fix potential weak points, and these companies actively encourage modification of their products. There are varying levels of open source. In s
Open Source refers to a method of distributing the programmer’s code that is compiled into functional applications. When you buy proprietary software in the store or download it off the internet, you are not able to view/modify or redistribute the code that was written to create the application you use. This makes it impossible for you or others to fix any bugs, security problems or enhance the software. Open Source remedies this problem by providing a licensing framework that gives additional rights to the user of the software including being able to view, modify and redistribute the source code under the same conditions. This has many advantages over closed source development. An example of a closed source program would be the Microsoft Windows operating system, Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop. An example of Open Source software includes the Linux operating system, the Apache web server and Mozilla Firefox web browser. There are many other examples of course. Click here to read m
