Open source: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:17, 9 March 2025

Revision as of 01:42, 12 March 2025

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{{Short description|Source code made freely available}}

{{Hatnote|For common use, see [[open source software]]. Not to be confused with [[Open collector#Open source|open source (pin configuration)]] and [[open access]].}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}

[[File:Open Source Initiative.svg|thumb|[[Open Source Initiative]] logo]]

'''Open source''' is [[source code]] that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code,<ref name="Open Source Org., 2007">{{cite web |url=https://opensource.org/docs/osd |title=The Open Source Definition |access-date=2020-01-22 |date=7 July 2006 |website=Open Source Org. |quote=Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611152544/https://opensource.org/docs/osd |archive-date=2007-06-11 }}</ref> design documents,<ref name="Diffingo Solutions Inc., 2008">{{Cite web |title=What is Open Source Software |url=https://diffingo.com/oss/whyoss |access-date=2023-03-09 |website=Diffingo Solutions Inc. |quote=Open source software <!-- differers --> differs from other software because it has a less restrictive license agreement: Instead of using a restrictive license that prevents you from modifying the program or sharing it with friends for example, sharing and modifying open source software is encouraged. Anyone who wishes to do so may distribute, modify or even create derivative works based on that source code! |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028104313/http://www.diffingo.com/oss/whyoss |archive-date=2008-10-28 }}</ref> or content of the product. The '''open source model''' is a [[Decentralization|decentralized]] [[software development]] model that encourages [[open collaboration]].<ref name="LevinePrietula2013">{{cite journal | last1 = Levine | first1 = Sheen S. | last2 = Prietula | first2 = M. J. | year = 2013 | title = Open Collaboration for Innovation: Principles and Performance | journal = Organization Science | volume = 25| issue = 5| pages = 1414–1433 | issn = 1047-7039 | doi = 10.1287/orsc.2013.0872 | arxiv = 1406.7541 | ssrn = 1096442 | s2cid = 6583883 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cathedralbaz00raym|url-access=registration|title=The cathedral and the bazaar: musings on Linux and Open Source by an accidental revolutionary|last=Raymond|first=Eric S.|publisher=OReilly|year=2001|isbn=978-0-596-00108-7|author-link=Eric S. Raymond}}{{page needed|date=November 2012}}</ref>

A main principle of [[open source software development]] is [[peer production]], with products such as source code, [[blueprint]]sblueprints, and documentation freely available to the public. The [[open source movement]] in software began as a response to the limitations of [[proprietary software|proprietary code]]. The model is used for projects such as in [[open source appropriate technology]],<ref name="Pearce2012">{{cite journal |title=The Case for Open Source Appropriate Technology |journal=Environment, Development and Sustainability |volume=14 |issue= 3|pages=425–431 |year=2012 | issn = 1387-585X |doi=10.1007/s10668-012-9337-9 |last1=Pearce |first1=Joshua M |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012EDSus..14..425P |url=https://www.academia.edu/1517361 }}</ref> and open source drug discovery.<ref name="business-standard.com">{{Cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sreelatha-menon-researchers-sans-borders/00/19/350429/ |title="Science 2.0 is here as CSIR resorts to open source drug research for TB"|first=Sreelatha|last=Menon|newspaper=Business Standard India|date=1 March 2009|via=Business Standard}}</ref><ref name="OpenWetWare" />

Open source promotes universal access via an [[open-source license|open-source]] or [[free license]] to a product's design or blueprint, and universal redistribution of that design or blueprint.<ref name="LakhaniVonHippel2003">{{cite journal|last1=Lakhani|first1=K.R.|last2=von Hippel|first2=E.|date=June 2003|title=How Open Source Software Works: Free User to User Assistance|journal=Research Policy|volume=32|issue=6|pages=923–943 | issn = 0048-7333 |doi=10.1016/S0048-7333(02)00095-1|hdl=1721.1/70028|ssrn=290305|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="GerberMolefo2010">{{cite book|title=Proceedings of the SAICSIT 2010 Conference — Fountains of Computing Research|last1=Gerbe| first1 = Aurona |last2=Molefo | first2 = Onkgopotse |last3=Van der Merwe | first3 = Alta |publisher=ACM Press|year=2010|isbn=978-1-60558-950-3 |editor-last=Kotze|editor-first=P.|pages=75–85|chapter=Documenting open-source migration processes for re-use|doi=10.1145/1899503.1899512|display-editors=3|editor2-first=A.|editor2-last=Gerber|editor3-first = A. |editor3-last=van der Merwe|editor4-first=N.|editor4-last=Bidwell|citeseerx=10.1.1.1033.7791|s2cid=11970697}}</ref> Before the phrase ''open source'' became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of other terms, such as ''free software'', ''[[shareware]]'', and ''public ___domain software''. ''Open source'' gained hold with the rise of the [[Internet]].<ref>{{harvnb|Weber|2004}}{{page needed|date=February 2014}}</ref> The [[open-source software movement]] arose to clarify [[copyright]], licensing, [[Domain name|___domain]], and consumer issues.

Generally, open source refers to a computer program in which the [[source code]] is available to the general public for use or modification from its original design. Code is released under the terms of a [[software license]]. Depending on the license terms, others may then download, modify, and publish their version (fork) back to the community. Many large formal institutions have sprung up to support the development of the open-source movement, including the [[Apache Software Foundation]], which supports community projects such as the open-source framework [[Apache Hadoop]] and the open-source [[Hypertext Transfer Protocol|HTTP]] server [[Apache HTTP Server|Apache HTTP]].

==History==

{{main|History of free and open-source software}}

The sharing of technical information predates the Internet and the personal computer considerably. For instance, in the early years of automobile development a group of capital [[monopoly|monopolists]] owned the rights to a [[2 cycle|2-cycle]] gasoline-engine patent originally filed by [[George B. Selden]].<ref name="carculture">{{cite book |first=James J. |last=Flink |title=The Car Culture |publisher=MIT Press |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-262-56015-3 }}</ref> By controlling this patent, they were able to monopolize the industry and force car manufacturers to adhere to their demands, or risk a lawsuit.