open source
n.
[common; also adj. open-source] Term coined in March 1998 following
the Mozilla release to describe software distributed in source under
licenses guaranteeing anybody rights to freely use, modify, and
redistribute, the code. The intent was to be able to sell the hackers'
ways of doing software to industry and the mainstream by avoiding the
negative connotations (to {suit}s) of the term "{free software}". For
discussion of the follow-on tactics and their consequences, see the
Open Source Initiative site.
open source
<philosophy, legal> A method and philosophy for software
licensing and distribution designed to encourage use and
improvement of software written by volunteers by ensuring that
anyone can copy the {source code} and modify it freely.
The term "open source" is now more widely used than the
earlier term "{free software}" (promoted by the {Free Software
Foundation}) but has broadly the same meaning - free of
distribution restrictions, not necessarily free of charge.
There are various {open source licenses} available.
Programmers can choose an appropriate license to use when
distributing their programs.
The {Open Source Initiative} promotes the {Open Source
Definition}.
The Cathedral and the Bazaar
(http://tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar.html).
was a seminal paper describing the open source phenomenon.
Open Sources - O'Reilly book with full text online
(http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/perens.html).
Articles from ZDNet
(http://zdnet.com/pcmag/features/opensource/).
(1999-12-29)