What is “open source”?
The ideals of
open-source software can be explained by the four essential rights,
which are embodied within the Free Software Foundation’s General
Public License (GPL):
The right to use
the software for any purpose.
Freedom
to redistribute the software for free or for a fee.
Access
to the complete source code of the program (that
is, the “blueprints”).
The
right to modify any part of the source, or use portions of it in
other programs.
Another view of this
philosophy comes from the Open Source Definition:
“The basic
idea behind open source is very simple: When
programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a
piece of software, the software evolves. People improve it, people
adapt it, people fix bugs. And this can happen at a speed that, if
one is used to the slow pace of conventional software development,
seems astonishing.”
For
more information on Free and Open Source software, visit these
websites:
Open
Source Initiative
(OSI):
https://www.opensource.org
Free
Software Foundation (FSF): https://www.gnu.org
