Open Source Software

Open Source Software

Open-source software (OSS) is computer software with its source code made available and licensed with an open-source license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change and distribute the software for free to anyone and for any purpose. Open-source software is very often developed in a public, collaborative manner. Open-source software is the most prominent example of open-source development and often compared to (technically defined) user-generated content or (legally defined) open-content movements.

A report by the Standish Group (from 2008) states that adoption of open-source software models has resulted in savings of about $60 billion per year to consumers.

Read more about Open Source Software:  History, The Open Source Definition, Proliferation of The Term, Non-software Use, Widely Used Open-source Products, Development Philosophy, Licensing, Funding, Comparison With Closed Source, Comparison With Free Software, Open-source Vs. Source-available, Pros and Cons For Software Producers, Development Tools, Projects and Organizations, Certification, Criticism, See Also

Famous quotes containing the words open and/or source:

    The novelist is required to open his eyes on the world around him and look. If what he sees is not highly edifying, he is still required to look. Then he is required to reproduce, with words, what he sees.
    Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)

    The act of birth is the first experience of anxiety, and thus the source and prototype of the affect of anxiety.
    Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)