What is Open Source?

Just what is Open Source, where did it come from, why is it here. This is an explanation of how it happened, who coined the phrase, and what it has brought us today.

In my previous post I talked about the Pros and Cons in using open source or commercial software. I had quite a few readers contact me asking for more of an explanation about Open Source.

So if commercial software is software that you have to pay for, and can’t redistribute. Open source software is software you can have for FREE, and give to as many people as you want.

We have Netscape to thank for the term ‘open source’. Netscape decided to release the code to ‘Navigator’, which was their most known product at the time(around 1998). They wanted to “to free themselves of the ideological and confrontational connotations of the term free software”. The term skyrocketed to popularity when it was coined by Tim O’Reilly, a well known publisher in the Tech Industry. Some people have said the term confuses the availability of the code with the freedom to use, modify, and redistribute it. While others have used the term Free/Open-Source Software (FOSS), or Free/Libre/Open-Source Software (FLOSS), consequently, to describe open-source software that is freely available and free of charge.

The term ‘Open Source’ has been added to lots of other areas besides information technology. Open Source Government, Open Politics, Open Source Ethics, Open Source Journalism, Open Source Documentary, and even Open Source Technology. With each one adopting some key ideals/aspects of Open Source Software.

I believe Education will be one of the biggest fields that benefits from Open Source Information. With websites, text books, and other types of media are filled with knowledge and information. . .why not take advantage of it?

Don’t forget about the Critics out there. It just seems natural to get compensated for work of creating something from nothing. I mean writing a book, complex software, making a movie, or whatever. They all take a whole lot of time to put together and make, but some think retaining the Intellectual Property rights is required to get financial compensation to cover the amount of labor that went into it. However with the growing amount of people on the planet, many just have that extra time to ‘donate’ to the better cause.

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